Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said a nationwide moratorium on foreclosures would be “very damaging” for U.S. homeowners and real estate prices.

“A national moratorium would be very damaging to exactly the kind of people we’re trying to protect,” Geithner said in an interview on “Charlie Rose,” to air later today on PBS and tomorrow on Bloomberg Television.

“In neighborhoods that have been most affected by the foreclosure crisis, where you see lots of houses on the block empty, unoccupied, what it means is those communities would be living longer with houses unoccupied, with more pressure on their house price,” Geithner said.

Authorities in at least nine states have begun investigations into foreclosure practices at some of the nation’s largest lenders. A coalition of state attorneys general is planning to announce a multistate investigation tomorrow, according to Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.

“We want to make sure we’re holding these services accountable, that they’re not causing any injustice to people who can afford to stay in their home, and we’re going to make sure we’re careful in doing that,” Geithner said, according to a transcript of the interview. “But we also want to make sure that we’re not going to make the problem worse.”