Does financial hardship = gauranteed debt forgiveness?

[Sean Dougherty]

I have a distressed homeowner who is interested in selling his home to me as a shortsale. He is way upside down on his mortgage and has experienced financial hardship. (Lost job.) Yet he does not live in the residence, it is not his primary home. Will this disqualify him from a shortsale?

If his hardship does qualify him with his lender, does this mean they will automatically forgive any deficiency after the sale?