Legal Question in Employment Law in California

If you were ineligible for benefits, which you were, neither time nor the fact that EDD was complicite in the erroneous payment of benefits mean you don't have to repay the benefits you never should have received. There is no time limit on EDD recouping illegally obtained payments. In fact, unless you have evidence that you told the EDD you quit in the phone interview, you will owe a 30% penalty on top of the reimbursement. You only got the benefits because you lied on the application in the first place, so there is little question that you will have to pay back at least the benefits you received before the phone interview, most likely with the penalty. You can try to get the rest of the repayment waived based on the fact that the EDD kept paying you after you told them you quit, combined with financial circumstances that would make it impossible or inequitable to make you repay. Information on how to request a waiver of the repayment or at least the penalties can be found here: http://www.las-elc.org/docs/self-help/Unemployment_Benefits.pdf

Yes to all the above, sorta, but almost everything in life can be negotiable. I would suggest you hire an experienced attorney to review this, determine whether all the facts and time-line would allow them to recover the money, and then if so to try to negotiate a compromise / settlement that you can live with. If you don't, and if they simply get a judgment against you, they will then levy on all your assets, just like any other creditor. The facts will determine which way this has to be handled. If serious about hiring counsel for this, feel free to contact me.