Goldman Sachs Takes Another Step towards Fulfilling Consumer-Relief Obligation under Mortgage Settlements

BOSTON, Aug. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Sachs, by forgiving balances due on 1,127 mortgages in recent months, moved $127.1 million closer to fulfilling its $1.8-billion consumer relief obligation under its two April 11, 2016, mortgage-related settlement agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice and three states, Eric D. Green announced today in his eighth report as independent Monitor of the consumer-relief portions of the agreements.

Since Professor Green's previous report on May 15, 2018, Goldman Sachs forgave the balances due on 1,024 first-lien mortgages, for total principal forgiveness of $113,504,343, an average of $110,844 per borrower. Goldman Sachs also forgave amounts due and previously deferred on 103 first-lien mortgages, for total forgiveness of $5,139,100, an average of $49,894 per borrower. Taken together, the two items resulted in total reportable consumer-relief credit of $127,109,482 after the application of crediting calculations and multipliers specified in the settlement agreements.

"Approximately 28 months after the settlement agreements were signed, the total amount of credit claimed and conditionally validated in my reports under both settlement agreements comes to $1,120,530,304, or 62 percent of the $1.8 billion target," Professor Green said.

The modified mortgages were spread across 45 states and the District of Columbia, with 36 percent of the credit located in the settling states of New York, Illinois and California, and 46 percent 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.

The Monitor's report contains a detailed explanation of how the credit is calculated. It also describes protocols that Professor Green and his legal and financial advisers developed with Goldman Sachs to help determine when credit is properly approved or denied for loan modifications in which principal forgiveness is earned in stages as the homeowner makes loan payments on time.

The two agreements settled potential and filed legal claims against Goldman Sachs 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 [email protected].

SOURCE Monitor: Eric D. Green