In 2011, her Ch. 13 converted to Ch. 7 and was discharged.  

Army Green Beret that separated from the military after serving 11 years with an Honorable Discharge in 2013.

I was just a young man with no experience freshly honorably discharged from the US Marines.You are either trained or untrained. 

His debt was discharged, BUT the lender hasn't successfully completed the foreclosure.

If they are, it must be bad for them to not be discharged and paying rent would be the last thing on their mind.  

If a borrower indicates he or she was in school or in the military during any of this time, the borrower must provide evidence supporting this claim, such as college transcripts or discharge papers.Handbook 4155.1: 4.D.1.b

That is listed as the biggest threat in the coming years ( trillions).Parents send kids to college to rack up tons of non-dischargeable debt even through filing a BK.

Private student loans are almost impossible to discharge.

When I contacted Julie she said "I gave that house back to the bank years ago, after my bankruptcy was discharged".

The other option is to go to a business or community bank for their HELOC's on non owner properties but they usually dont like any foreclosure or BK records.2) this is a personal decision and up to your preferences just, buyer beware and vet our your partner well3) there are many options unless you get a seller who is willing to carry paper, commit to a land contract, lease option, or other form of contract for deed or take back a note for their title interests to control the property with out using an actual traditional or private/hard lending sourcesAs a comment aside, I've funded conventional financing deals if the foreclose was documented to be within/included inside the CH7 BK discharge papers.