Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan acknowledged that some struggling homeowners won't be helped by any of the current programs that are meant to rescue them. And he said the bank is "willing to listen to any good ideas" on how to help them.
Moynihan said Bank of America knows that "more needs to be done" on the issue of mortgage modifications, but he bristled when some shareholders suggested the bank was sitting on its hands. He pointed out that Bank of America has 15,000 employees working on mortgage modifications and has already modified 700,000 contracts. It is working on more at a rate of 2,000 a day, he said.
Speaking at Tuesday's shareholder meeting, he called the foreclosure crisis "the biggest issue that our economy faces."
Rev. Jesse Jackson, who spoke at the meeting, called on the banking industry to suspend mortgage payments for the unemployed and for members of the military serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I agree with you that we need to get more people at the table to figure out the next step," Moynihan told Jackson. "...I agree with you that we need to be more comprehensive in our approach."
He also told Jackson that "my pledge to you is to do everything we can to support you."
Jackson said he met with Moynihan, board chairman Walter Massey and other Bank of America staff before the shareholder meeting on Tuesday morning. He said the meeting was "congenial" but he's still looking for answers on how the bank and others will handle a problem that he said is much bigger than the government-sponsored programs targeting the foreclosure crisis. Jackson is organizing a grass-roots movement of 1,000 ministers in 50 major markets and plans to return for the bank's annual shareholder meeting in April.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement