Goldman Sachs has forgiven principal on 746 loans as part of two mortgage-related settlement agreements with the Department of Justice and three states, Eric Green noted in his ninth report as independent monitor of the consumer-relief portions of the agreements.
Goldman has been working to satisfy a $1.8-billion consumer-relief obligation under the agreements from April 11, 2016.
Since the last report was released on Aug. 1, 2018, Goldman Sachs forgave $78,678,617 in principal on 746 first-lien mortgages, for average principal forgiveness of $105,467 per loan, or $79,272,978. Goldman has now modified 10,671 mortgages, totaling $1,199,803,282 or 67 percent of the $1.8-billion target.
"I am pleased to be able to confirm that Goldman Sachs continues to make steady progress toward meeting its obligation to provide Consumer Relief valued at $1.8 billion," said Green.
The modified mortgages are spread across 42 states and the District of Columbia, with 32 percent of the credit located in the settling states of New York, Illinois, and California, and 47 percent of the credit located in hardest hit areas, or census tracts identified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as containing large concentrations of distressed properties and foreclosure activities.
Goldman's 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 $1.8 billion of consumer relief to be distributed by year-end of January 2021.
Eric Green is a professional mediator and retired Boston University law professor, who was named by the settling parties as independent monitor with responsible for determining whether Goldman Sachs fulfills its consumer-relief obligations. He has assembled a team of finance, accounting and legal professionals to help perform that work.
