Douglas Hardman sits outside the teepee in which he lives in an encampment of homeless people in Lakewood N.J. on Oct. 4, 2012. Hardman is suing a volunteer with a homeless assistance program, alleging he forged a document signing over ownership of his home, which was then sold without any of the money going to him. / (AP

LAKEWOOD — A New Jersey man who once lived in a waterfront home at the Jersey shore now lives in a teepee made of plastic tarpaulins in muddy, mosquito-infested woods.

Doug Hardman is suing a volunteer with a homeless assistance program, and a real estate company, alleging they cheated him out of his Bayville home, selling it without giving him a penny.

The once successful carpenter now lives in Tent City, the encampment of homeless people in the woods of Lakewood.

His lawsuit accuses the housing director of an anti-poverty agency with forging his name on a document transferring ownership of his house. The director maintains Hardman turned over the house of his own free will.