If by some crazy hapenstance it does kill us all, or collapse the CA economy, or whatever the outcome, there's very little we can do to stop it anyway, hence the reason the local gov resorted to a hefty daily fine. 

I've crunched numbers and I'd only use a Hard money guy as a last resort.

Because I’m not there yet physically, I’ve been resorting to Redfin/Zillow to try and get a sense of where these sort of properties are and what they sell for.

@micki mcnieI would certainly think the vacation rental or resort route would be the way to go.  

I know the local hotels and resorts deep discount in June-Sept and make up for it by having pool parties with expensive drinks and stuff....

It ends like this:1> Airlines, bars, restaurants, Casinos, Cruises, the entertainment industry , malls, and misc companies will get bailed out using taxpayer money. 2>These bailed out companies will take the money and pay compensation to their top-level executives, continue to do stock buybacks3> The stock market will rally.4>The average joe taxpayer will get NOTHING and will be our of the job and screwed- AGAIN.5>After many are dead and there is full-fledged fright leading to a mandatory lockdown, the cases might drop6>Persident/GOP will say he is solely responsible for fixing this and will take full credit and will take no blame for this.7>DEMS will resort to the usual tactics with their tails between their legs.8> CNN/MSNBC/FOX will continue to do their crap reporting while profiting from the stock market rally and bailouts9>Toilet paper/Hand sanitizer hoarders will try to return their excess toilet paper to Walmart10> Going forward BP members will ask every 5 days the following question in the forum - Is there a recession coming?

A-class, lux, vacation, resort, STR s and flippers probably had different experiences. 

Not to pick on you Sue but court should be the last resort and from the words that you used, it sounds quite like a shakedown.

Your last resort should be to sell as you will lose 5-10% on closing costs alone.

As a last resort I reached out to the original lender which tells me the property is not owned by the bank and it is an FHA loan which will eventually end up as a HUD property and be listed under HUD.