The survivors of Harry Engel are suing J.P. Morgan Chase after Engel experienced a heart attack after foreclosure was initiated. It is suggested in the lawsuit that Chase was accountable.
Family blames bank for 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, JPMorgan Chase forced them out in foreclosure proceedings. Shortly thereafter, in July 2010, he experienced a heart attack, according to KHOU. His family blames the bank for his condition.
The local Chase branch advised the Engel family that they had to miss a payment before they could qualify for the Department of the Treasury's Making Home Affordable Program, and they did so. They were looking to lower their rate because they were on a fixed income and hear they could save some money that way.
The bank started to send late fees 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.
Hearing from the widow
His wife, Wando Jo Engel, is suing Chase, according to the Huffington Post, in a wrongful death suit. The Engel family was among a number of people who had been given similar instructions. They were told to miss at least one payment to qualify for a troubled mortgage refinance, only to fall into foreclosure after the bank chose to not follow through. Chase had not submitted foreclosure proceedings yet, but was in the early stages.
The Senate Banking committee hearings in 2010 talked about this, called "servicer-led foreclosure," according to the Washington post. It was part of the enormous suit the government did against the five biggest mortgage lenders in the country for "robosigning" and other practices that were not allowed. The mortgage lenders settled for $25 billion earlier this year, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Huffington Post explained that a servicer-led foreclosure went wrong this year at Bank of America too. Pamela Flores in Georgia was told the same thing from B of A just to have the modification not work out and foreclosure to follow, according to the Huffington Post. The Engel family is not alone.
Some foreclosure suicides
Apart from the financial toll that foreclosures impose, a number of people have crumbled from the mental anguish, leading to a number of "foreclosures suicides." Some of the first instances were noticed in 2008, according to USA Today. During that year, suicide hotlines started noting an increased number of calls from distressed homeowners who were having issues 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.
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