As for some of the theories on who fronted the cash to pay Pat's debts, I don't think it's a loan. His credit is shit (not even on the mortgage iirc), he has no steady job/income, and no one is going to loan someone $30,000+ to pay off a debt that they've been dodging for over a year.
I also don't think it is the SFWA, though it could be. Isn't it in the SFWA bylaws (or whatever they're called) that they only "loan" money for lawsuits? They don't just pay for all that shit unless it directly affects them, which this did not. I get that they got their panties in a bunch over Goodreads, but it's just Goodreads and they already got all the bad reviews wiped. If it's a loan, Pat already owes them money. I don't see them throwing another $30,000+ on top of that.
But bigger picture, Pat is no longer an author and he doesn't have any clout anymore. His last book came out three years ago come October, he is no longer in the Tor stable, he no longer writes Op Eds for news websites, and he's nowhere near even finishing the Tiny Tim book. He is for all intents and purposes not an author anymore.
Which brings us to Lynne. While it is a lot of money, I think she has it. She has a business, she's old and presumably has a lot of savings/retirement money, plus her husband died so she got whatever money he had, too (incidentally, this is where I think Niki and Pat get their vacation money from; her dad probably left her a little chunk of money and they've been blowing it).
She most likely doesn't give a shit about Pat, but she does care about her daughter and knows that as dysfunctional as Pat is, this is probably the best Niki has ever been in her life. She's an idiot and a loser who already has a bankruptcy under her belt. Lynne is not about to let her daughter go under again because of her fat idiot son in law. I bet she was going to pay the debt a while ago but Pat had been stalling her by saying he was going to file a motion that would erase the debt. Then Pat's pro se got filed, Lynne read it, realized her daughter was completely fucked, and put her foot down and paid.
TL;DR Pat is fat and got bailed out by his MiL. And Josh Moon is a fat faggot with bitch tits.