By Jon Kamp and Aparajita Saha-Bubna
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BOSTON (Dow Jones)--Bank of America Corp.'s (BAC) chief executive said Thursday that it will take a "few weeks" to finish reviewing documentation problems related to home foreclosures, but said there is no timeline yet for lifting the bank's moratorium on foreclosures and sales of foreclosed homes.
The review is "a lot of work, [and] it will take a few weeks to get through it," said Brian Moynihan, the bank's chief executive. "We're going back to recheck that we did things fairly."
Once the review is completed, Bank of America will evaluate when to lift that moratorium, he said, speaking at the Chief Executives' Club of Boston luncheon held by Boston College.
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, who attended Thursday's event, gave Bank of America credit for stepping forward and holding off on foreclosures. "The actions that they've taken are encouraging," Coakley told reporters, though she added "I think there's more to be done."
Earlier this month, the Charlotte, N.C., bank imposed the nationwide halt on foreclosures and the sale of foreclosed homes after it came under intense pressure from a government-run housing-finance organization worried about documentation problems. State attorneys general across the U.S. are probing allegations that thousands of home foreclosures were improperly handled, and other banks are also holding back on foreclosures or reviewing their processes.
Moynihan said he is "not concerned" that these moves will destabilize the housing market. Bank stocks slipped on Thursday, however, due to mounting concerns that foreclosure moratoriums could hurt the industry. Bank of America declined 5.2% to close at $12.60.
During prepared remarks, Moynihan focused on Bank of America's new plan to hire more than 1,000 small-business bankers by early 2012, focusing on an area of the economy seen as important to help prop up a sluggish recovery following the recession. During a later question-and-answer session and meeting with reporters, the executive also talked about the importance of a "solid" mortgage and home-finance market.
He also stressed that the focus on reviewing foreclosure methods is aimed at reassuring home owners that the process works correctly.
-By Jon Kamp and Aparajita Saha-Bubna, Dow Jones Newswires; 617-654-6728; jon.kamp@dowjones.com
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Michael Hon
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