A suit has been lodged against JPMorgan Chase for apparently giving a Texas male cardiac arrest after property foreclosure updates were sent to him. Harry Engel's fatal heart attack (which Chase denies responsibility for) makes him another victim of foreclosure.

Foreclosure results in heart attack

Seventy-nine year old Harry Engel's family told the news that they had lived in the same house for 22 years. Then, Chase bank forced them out in foreclosure proceedings. Shortly thereafter, in July 2010, he experienced cardiac arrest, according to KHOU. His family blames the bank for his condition.

The Engel family lived on a fixed income and had heard of a refinancing program that would lower their rate. They talked to a banker at their local Chase branch, who told them to be able to qualify for the refinancing program through the Department of the Treasury, ostensibly the Making House Affordable Program, they had to first miss a payment, which they did.

The bank started to send late charges and updates, and he got a notice of foreclosure. Then, he got a notice of eviction and had the heart attack. Apparently the bank started the program and cancelled their enrollment in it.

Getting sued by a widow

Wando Jo Engel is his wife who is suing Chase for wrongful death, according to the Huffington Post. Chase was in the early stages of filing for foreclosure though it had not actually filed the paperwork yet. The Engel family was not the only family that was told to miss a payment in order to get in the refinancing program just for the bank to change its mind and not follow through.

Earlier this year, five of the biggest mortgage lenders in the nation settled with the government for $25 billion due to "robosigning" and other inappropriate practices, according to the LA Times. Part of it was "servicer-led foreclosure," which was what this is called and was talked about in 2010 in a U.S. Senate Banking Committee, according to the Washington Post.

The Huffington Post explained that a servicer-led foreclosure went wrong this year at Bank of America too. Pamela Flores in GA was told the same thing from Bank of America just to have the modification not work out and foreclosure to follow, according to the Huffington Post. The Engel family is not alone.

Difficult to deal with foreclosure

Besides the financial toll that foreclosures enforce, a number of individuals have crumbled from the mental anguish, leading to numerous "foreclosures suicides." Some of the first instances were noticed in 2008, according to USA Today. During that year, suicide hotlines began noting an increased number of calls from distressed homeowners who were having problems with their loans. At least two have been recorded this year, according to the Huffington Post, one in May in California and a murder-suicide in Ohio in March.