First Federal Savings & Loan Association, the Charleston area's largest bank, announced Wednesday that it will stop foreclosure proceedings on borrowers' primary homes until May 1.

Executives at the bank, a subsidiary of First Financial Holdings Inc., didn't know how many local borrowers will benefit from the new policy. The moratorium applies only to borrowers whose mortgages are still owned by First Federal and for borrowers who agree to work in good faith with bank officials.

"What we're trying to do is get folks who are having some problems with making their home payments — whether they're a month delinquent or a couple months delinquent or maybe they just lost a job — what we would like them to do is have folks come to us as early as possible and work our way through to a solution," said A. Thomas Hood, president and chief executive officer of First Federal. "There may be a number of things we can do to help them avoid delinquency or foreclosure, and the earlier we get in touch with them, the better solution we might have."

The move comes a week after major home lenders Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that they'd temporarily suspend foreclosures in anticipation of President Barack Obama's loan modification program and other federal stimulus efforts.

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