BOSTON, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Goldman Sachs has successfully completed 86% of the consumer relief required of it under its 2016 settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and three states as of December 18, 2019, according to the January 15 report by the Independent Monitor of the settlements, Professor Eric D. Green. According to Professor Green, Goldman Sachs is continuing to make steady progress towards fulfilling its obligation to provide $1.8 billion in consumer relief under those settlements.
It is the Monitor's thirteenth report since the April 11, 2016 settlement.
According to Professor Green, in the 19 weeks covered by the most recent report, through December 18, 2019 Goldman Sachs forgave the balances due on 792 first lien mortgages, representing total principal forgiveness of $78,946,811 and an average first lien principal forgiveness of $99,680. Total reportable credits amounted to $78,830,630 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. The modified mortgages are spread across 42 states and the District of Columbia, with 48% of the credit located in the three settling states and 49% of the credit in Hardest Hit Areas (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 also forgave amounts due on unsecured debt and loans secured by liens junior to second liens on 68 loans for a total forgiveness of $6,249,331, an average of $91,902, and a total reportable credit of $2,482,058 after the application of appropriate crediting calculations and multipliers. The loans are located in 15 states, with 40% of the associated credit in the three Settling States and 68% of the credit in Hardest Hit Areas.
The consumer relief provided in the most recent period brings the total relief provided by Goldman Sachs to $1,547,327,585 the Monitor said in the report.
"Thus, some three years and ten months after the Settlement Agreements were signed, Goldman Sachs appears to be approximately 86% toward completing its Consumer Relief obligations," Professor Green said in the report, which again noted data suggesting 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.
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
