Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You must be confused about where you filed bankruptcy ....... this can only be done in a federal court, although there probably is a branch of the federal court in Santa Barbara.

The PL (paralegal?) is probably right, and we don't see a whole lot of active pursuit of former benkruptcy debtors or other foreclosed homeowners by lenders seeking deficiency judgments or to enforce sold-out junior loans. There are some exceptions, and they seem to involve cases where the borrower did some shenanigans like fibbing on their loan application or trashing the place before eviction, or where the lender gets a whiff of some hidden wealth that might be tapped to pay the deficiency.

I don't know for sure what you mean by "quick sale." That could mean to sell the house quickly; or to quitclaim it to someone; or to do a "short sale"; or possibly to give the lender a deed in lieu of foreclosure. The terms of short sales vary so much it is hard to predict which option will be better, but as a recent bankrupt I'd suppose you have little to lose in a foreclosure.

It depends on what the $10K was for. If it was on the first and it was your residence then you don't owe them anything due to the Anti- Deficiency Statue in California. If it was for the second then they can sue you but the time within which they had to sue you has probably run. At most they had 4 years for the date of the foreclosure sale and possibly less.

Write them a letter disputing the debt and telling them not to call you anymore. Send it certified mail return receipt requested. Wait for their response and then re-post your question with it for further help.

Good luck and hope this helps.