Living Out Of Pickup-Camper, Oregon Man Trades In Vehicle & Discovers (From Credit Report Run By Auto Dealership) That He Still Owns Home Thought To Have Been Lost To Foreclosure

In Medford, Oregon, the Mail Tribune reports:

• If Louie Painter hadn't purchased a new car in April, he wouldn't have a home.
  
  The 71-year-old retired veteran had been living a nomadic life in the wake of his divorce in 2007, traveling to military bases across the country while living in the back of his truck. But that began to change in April when he traded in the truck, and by May he was living in the 2,600-square-foot east Medford home he previously thought he no longer owned.
  
  It was while Painter was at the Lithia Chrysler Superstore trading in his truck for a new black Dodge Challenger that friend and salesman Dave Struber told him he would've qualified for a lower interest rate if he didn't have a house in foreclosure. “If the car dealer who was selling him a car didn’t tell him, he still wouldn’t know,” ACCESS housing counselor Jodie Barnes said.
  
  The news was a complete surprise to Painter, who was renting a home at the time he bought the vehicle. "He was just living his merry way, assuming he was not a homeowner anymore," Barnes said.
  
  Painter had purchased the home in 2006 with his former wife, Nancy, but when they divorced, he left possession of it with her, or so he thought. He recalled signing documents authorizing a short sale while on the road and sending them to his ex-wife via fax. He had put the home along with much of his previous life behind him.
  
  Assisting someone who didn't know he had a house was atypical for housing counselors at ACCESS. "That in and of itself was new for us," Barnes said.
  
  The Veterans Affairs' Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics in White City put Painter in touch with housing counselor Barnes at the ACCESS Homeownership Center. After verifying that Painter met income and debt criteria — Painter said he'd lived simply on his pension and Social Security after his divorce — Barnes met with him to explain the loan modification process on April 30.
  
  ***
  Days after Painter's loan modification application, ACCESS heard from the mortgage company with an offer. [...] Barnes said specific figures in the loan modification are confidential, and Painter was unclear on exact figures, but according to property records, the 2,684-square-foot home in the 4000 block of Park Ridge Drive, near Vista Pointe, was purchased new in 2006 by Louie and his wife for $517,500. The home's current appraised value is $327,500.
  
  "It's got a money view," Painter said.
  
  The one-story hillside home with a basement is a significant change from the pickup camper Painter was living in a year before. He called it a "mini-mansion," because the home is comparatively smaller than others in his neighborhood. "This is not one of those homes, but it's mine," Painter said.

For the story, see ACCESS helps vet recover home he didn't know he had.