II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1748 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 

1965 to require additional disclosures and protections for students and 

cosigners with respect to student loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 20, 2011 

Mr. LAUTENBERG introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require additional disclosures and 

protections for students and cosigners with respect to 

student loans, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act’’ or 

6 ‘‘Christopher’s Law’’. 

7 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) No requirement exists for private edu2 cational lenders’ promissory notes to include a clear 

3 and conspicuous description of the responsibilities of 

4 a borrower and cosigner in the event the borrower 

5 or cosigner becomes disabled, incapacitated, or dies. 

6 (2) An estimated 1,700,000 people sustain a 

7 traumatic brain injury each year, with older adoles8 cents aged 15 to 19 years old more likely to sustain 

9 a traumatic brain injury than other age groups. 

10 (3) It has been estimated that the annual inci11 dence of spinal cord injury, not including those who 

12 die at the scene of an accident, is approximately 40 

13 cases per 1,000,000 people in the United States or 

14 approximately 12,000 new cases each year. These in15 juries can lead to permanent disability or loss of 

16 movement and can prohibit the victim from engaging 

17 in any substantial gainful activity. 

18 (4) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per19 cent of students attending a 4-year public institution 

20 of higher education, and 26.2 percent of students at21 tending a 4-year private institution of higher edu22 cation, borrowed monies from private educational 

23 lenders. 

24 (5) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the per25 centage of cosigned private education loans inVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:40 Oct 22, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1748.IS S1748

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1 creased from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private 

2 education loans. 

3 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL STUDENT LOAN PROTECTIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 140 of the Truth in Lend5 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS RELATING TO

8 DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF

9 A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 

10 ‘‘(1) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS DESCRIPTION

11 OF COSIGNER’S OBLIGATION.—In the case of any 

12 private educational lender who extends a private 

13 education loan for which any cosigner is jointly lia14 ble, the lender shall clearly and conspicuously de15 scribe, in writing, the cosigner’s obligations with re16 spect to the loan, including the effect the death, dis17 ability, or inability to engage in any substantial 

18 gainful activity of the borrower or any cosigner 

19 would have on any such obligation, in language that 

20 the Bureau determines would give a reasonable per21 son a reasonable understanding of the obligation 

22 being assumed by becoming a cosigner for the loan. 

23 ‘‘(2) MODEL FORM.—The Bureau shall publish 

24 a model form under section 105 for describing a co25 signer’s obligation for purposes of paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION OF DEATH, DISABILITY, OR

2 INABILITY TO ENGAGE IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL GAIN3 FUL ACTIVITY.—For the purposes of this subsection 

4 with respect to a borrower or cosigner, the term 

5 ‘death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub6 stantial gainful activity’— 

7 ‘‘(A) means any condition described in sec8 tion 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)); and 

10 ‘‘(B) shall be interpreted by the Bureau in 

11 such a manner as to conform with the regula12 tions prescribed by the Secretary of Education 

13 under section 437(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

14 1087(a)) to the fullest extent practicable, in15 cluding safeguards to prevent fraud and 

16 abuse.’’. 

17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 140(a) of the Truth in 

18 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

20 (8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), respectively; and 

21 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes22 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘cosigner’— 

24 ‘‘(A) means any individual who is liable for 

25 the obligation of another without compensation, 


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1 regardless of how designated in the contract or 

2 instrument; 

3 ‘‘(B) includes any person whose signature 

4 is requested as condition to grant credit or to 

5 forbear on collection; and 

6 ‘‘(C) does not include a spouse of an indi7 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) whose 

8 signature is needed to perfect the security inter9 est in the loan;’’. 

10 SEC. 3. FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

11 Section 485(l)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(l)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

13 end the following: 

14 ‘‘(L) Information on the conditions re15 quired to discharge the loan due to the death, 

16 disability, or inability to engage in any substan17 tial gainful activity of the borrower in accord18 ance with section 437(a), and an explanation 

19 that, in the case of a private education loan 

20 made through a private educational lender (as 

21 such terms are defined in section 140 of the 

22 Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650)), the 

23 borrower, the borrower’s estate, and any co24 signer of such a private education loan may be 

25 obligated to repay the full amount of the loan, 


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1 regardless of the death or disability of the bor2 rower or any other condition described in sec3 tion 437(a).’’. 

Æ 


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