Goldman Sachs Completes 77% of $1.8B Target for Consumer-Relief Under Mortgage Settlements

BOSTON, May 1, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Sachs has successfully completed roughly 77% of the $1.8 billion in consumer-relief it is obligated to provide under its two mortgage-backed-securities settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and three states, according to the May 1 report by the Independent Monitor of the settlements, Professor Eric D. Green, his eleventh report since the April 11, 2016 settlement. In addition, the report finds that Goldman Sachs has now surpassed the minimum amount of consumer relief in each of the three settling states of California, Illinois, and New York.

Since Professor Green's last report on March 1, 2019, Goldman Sachs forgave the balances due on 819 first-lien mortgages, for total principal forgiveness of $85,054,938, an average of $103,852 per borrower. Goldman Sachs also forgave amounts due and previously deferred on 30 first-lien mortgages, for total forgiveness of $4,231,614, an average of $141,054 per borrower. Goldman Sachs also received credit related to an agreement that allowed the lender to defer until a later date, the repayment of the principal due on 58 mortgage loans. The total in principal repayment deferred on these loans was $4,055,933, with an average deferral of $69,930. Taken together, these items resulted in a total reportable credit of $92,523,444 after the application of crediting calculations and multipliers specified in the settlement agreements.

"A little more than three years after the Settlement Agreements were signed, Goldman Sachs appears to be approximately 77% toward completing its Consumer Relief obligations," Professor Green said in the report.  "While Goldman Sachs has not yet provided a submission specifically claiming that it has met any of the credit minimums under the Global Settlement Agreement, the data suggest that Goldman Sachs has now exceeded the minimum amount of credit that must be earned in each of the three settling states of California, Illinois, and New York."

The modified first-lien mortgages are spread across 45 states and the District of Columbia, with 33% of the credit located in the settling states, and with 47% of the credit located in Hardest Hit Areas, or census tracts identified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as containing large concentrations of distressed properties and foreclosure activities.

Goldman Sachs' two settlement agreements resolved potential claims regarding the marketing, structuring, arrangement, underwriting, issuance and sale of mortgage-based securities. Besides the Department of Justice, California, Illinois, and New York, Goldman Sachs reached settlements with the National Credit Union Administration Board and the Federal Home Loan Banks of Chicago and Des Moines. Under the settlements, Goldman Sachs agreed to provide a total of $5.06 billion, including consumer-relief valued at $1.8 billion to be distributed by the end of January 2021.

Professor Green, a professional mediator and retired Boston University law professor, was named by the settling parties as independent Monitor with responsibility for determining whether Goldman Sachs fulfills its consumer-relief obligations. He has assembled a team of finance, accounting and legal professionals to assist in the task.

The report is available at the Monitor's website at: http://goldmansachs.mortgagesettlementmonitor.com. The website provides further details about the settlement, plus contact information for Goldman Sachs, the Department of Justice, the Attorneys General of California, Illinois and New York, and agencies that provide legal or tax advice to consumers.

The Monitor's mailing address is: Monitor of the Goldman Sachs Mortgage Settlement, P.O. Box 10310, Dublin, OH 43017-5910, and the e-mail address is goldmansachsmonitor@mortgagesettlementmonitor.com.

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SOURCE Monitor Eric D. Green