"It's Absurd!" Expert Says About BofA Claims To End Foreclosure Crisis Quickly

A consumer bankruptcy lawyer said the claims that Bank of America will be able to review its foreclosure proceedings nationwide in just a few weeks, is "absurd."

The bank halted all of its foreclosures in all 50 states and ordered a review of the paperwork.

"The amount of work required is a matter of a few weeks," said Brian Moynihan, chief executive of Bank of America. "A few weeks we'll be through the process of double checking the pieces of paper we need to double check."

On Friday A local consumer bankruptcy lawyer called that time frame "absurd."

"I mean, c'mon, let's just think about this for a minute. That's beyond absurd to me," said attorney Max Gardner III, of Shelby.

Gardner said that it could take months for the bank to review hundreds of thousands of foreclosure affidavits and that the effects will be felt for years.

"This is not an oops. This is not a technical problem. This is not even sloppiness," he said.

Gardner said Congress needs to respond with sweeping legislation. He supports a mandatory federal program that entitles every homeowner to a loan modification.

"If you're in a home that you have a $400,000 mortgage on and it's only worth $200,000 today, then I think you should get some relief. Everybody should," Gardner said.

Eyewitness News tried to contact lawmakers to see if they support congressional action. We left messages at home with Congressmen Mel Watt and stopped by the Charlotte home of Congresswoman Sue Myrick. Senator Kay Hagan responded with a statement which only indirectly addressed that question.

"We need to be absolutely sure that homeowners are treated fairly," Hagan said.