That assumes the borrower did not discharge the debt in bankruptcy. 

The addendum states"Tenants hereby expressly and knowingly release, discharge, and hold harmless Landlord from any and all liabilities arising from any injury, harm, loss, or other events which may occur as a result from Landlord's dogs.

However, the lender must verify the borrower’s employment for the most recent two full years, and the borrower mustexplain any gaps in employment that span one or more months, and indicate if he/she was in school or the military during the most recent two full years, providing evidence supporting this claim, such as college transcripts, or discharge papers. 

As for “his sump pump discharge flooding your property”, I don’t think he would be allowed to do that and you would have recourse.  

You will need to get the IRS to issue a discharge of it's lien otherwise it will follow the property (unless the lien has expired- check the local recording agency and look at the dates) Check IRS.gov under discharges of Notice of Federal Tax Lien.

Just something to keep in mind.Another option, you can use FHA instead of VA as long as you meet the criteria: (7) Military Personnel Eligibility (a) Standard Borrowers who are military personnel, who cannot physically reside in a Property because they are on Active Duty, are still considered owner occupants and are eligible for maximum financing if a Family Member of the Borrower will occupy the subject Property as their Principal Residence, or the Borrower intends to occupy the subject Property upon discharge from military service.

Or you can turn off the one supply valve, flush the toilet, vacuum the rest of the water from the bottom, disconnect the supply line, undo the 2 bolts, pull it up and put it on a trash bag, scrape the old wax off the bottom and the discharge pipe, put the rubber ring on and put it back together.

What we do have are rules regarding our finances being in order (summary version) and we can be punished to the extent of being discharged for not maintaining good finances or loss of our security clearance.

When the mortgage is satisfied it gets discharged and title is clear.

For FHA, here are the stipulations for military out of HUD 4000.1: "(7) Military Personnel Eligibility (a) Standard Borrowers who are military personnel, who cannot physically reside in a Property because they are on Active Duty, are still considered owner occupants and are eligible for maximum financing if a Family Member of the Borrower will occupy the subject Property as their Principal Residence, or the Borrower intends to occupy the subject Property upon discharge from military service.