IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5458 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 29, 2010 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 

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

3 ‘‘Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act’’ and 

4 ‘‘Christopher’s Law’’. 

5 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) There is no requirement for Federal or pri7 vate educational lenders to provide information with 

8 respect to creating a durable power of attorney for 

9 financial decisionmaking in accordance with State 

10 law to be used in the event of the death, incapacita11 tion, or disability of the borrower or such cosigner 

12 (if any). 

13 (2) No requirement exists for private edu14 cational lenders’ master promissory notes to include 

15 a clear and conspicuous description of the respon16 sibilities of a borrower and cosigner in the event the 

17 borrower or cosigner becomes disabled, incapaci18 tated, or dies. 

19 (3) Of the 1,400,000 people who sustain a trau20 matic brain injury each year in the United States, 

21 50,000 die; 235,000 are hospitalized; and 1,100,000 

22 are treated and released from an emergency depart23 ment. 

24 (4) It is estimated that the annual incidence of 

25 spinal cord injury, not including those who die at the 

26 scene of an accident, is approximately 40 cases per 


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1 1,000,000 people in the United States or approxi2 mately 12,000 new cases each year. Since there have 

3 not been any overall incidence studies of spinal cord 

4 injuries in the United States since the 1970s, it is 

5 not known if incidence has changed in recent years. 

6 (5) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per7 cent of students attending a 4-year public school, 

8 and 26.2 percent of students attending a 4-year pri9 vate school, borrowed monies from private edu10 cational lenders. 

11 (6) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the num12 ber of cosigned private education loans increased 

13 from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private edu14 cation loans. 

15 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL STUDENT LOAN PROTECTIONS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 140 of the Truth in Lend17 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following new subsection: 

19 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS RELATING TO

20 DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF

21 A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 

22 ‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO DISCUSS DURABLE POWER

23 OF ATTORNEYS.—In conjunction with— 

24 ‘‘(A) any student loan counseling, if any, 

25 provided by a covered educational institution to 


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1 any new borrower and cosigner (if any) at the 

2 time of any loan application, loan origination, 

3 or loan consolidation, or at the time the co4 signer assumes responsibility for repayment, the 

5 institution shall provide information with re6 spect to creating a durable power of attorney 

7 for financial decisionmaking, in accordance with 

8 State law; and 

9 ‘‘(B) any application for a private edu10 cation loan, the private educational lender in11 volved in such loan shall provide information to 

12 the borrower, and cosigner (if any), concerning 

13 the creation of a durable power of attorney for 

14 financial decisionmaking, in accordance with 

15 State law, with respect to such loan. 

16 ‘‘(2) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS DESCRIPTION

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

18 private educational lender who extends a private 

19 education loan for which any cosigner is jointly lia20 ble, the lender shall clearly and conspicuously de21 scribe, in writing, the cosigner’s obligations with re22 spect to the loan, including the effect the death, dis23 ability, or inability to engage in any substantial 

24 gainful activity of the borrower or cosigner (if any) 

25 would have on any such obligation, in language that 


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1 the Board determines would give a reasonable per2 son a reasonable understanding of the obligation 

3 being assumed by becoming a cosigner for the loan. 

4 ‘‘(3) MODEL FORMS.—The Board shall publish 

5 model forms under section 105 for— 

6 ‘‘(A) the information required under para7 graph (1) with respect to a durable power of at8 torney for financial decisionmaking, for each 

9 State (and such model forms under this sub10 paragraph shall be uniform for all States to the 

11 greatest extent possible); and 

12 ‘‘(B) describing a cosigner’s obligation for 

13 purposes of paragraph (2). 

14 ‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF DEATH, DISABILITY, OR

15 INABILITY TO ENGAGE IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL GAIN16 FUL ACTIVITY.—For the purposes of this subsection 

17 with respect to a borrower or cosigner, the term 

18 ‘death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub19 stantial gainful activity’— 

20 ‘‘(A) means any condition described in sec21 tion 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

22 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)); and 

23 ‘‘(B) shall be interpreted by the Board in 

24 such a manner as to conform with the regula25 tions prescribed by such Secretary of Education 


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1 under section 437(a) of the Higher Education 

2 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)) to the fullest 

3 extent practicable, including safeguards to pre4 vent fraud and abuse.’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 140 of 

6 the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 

8 ‘‘(9) DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY.—The 

9 term ‘durable power of attorney’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means a written instruction recog11 nized under State law (whether statutory or as 

12 recognized by the courts of the State), relating 

13 to financial decisionmaking in cases when the 

14 individual lacks the capacity to make such deci15 sions; or 

16 ‘‘(B) has the meaning given to such term 

17 in the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act 

18 of 2006 and sections 5-501 through 5-505 of 

19 the Uniform Probate Code, as in effect in any 

20 State. 

21 ‘‘(10) COSIGNER.—The term ‘cosigner’— 

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

23 the obligation of another without compensation, 

24 regardless of how designated in the contract or 

25 instrument; 


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1 ‘‘(B) includes any person whose signature 

2 is requested as condition to grant credit or to 

3 forebear on collection; and 

4 ‘‘(C) does not include a spouse of an indi5 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) whose 

6 signature is needed to perfect the security inter7 est in the loan.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

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

10 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(l)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘(L) Information on the conditions re13 quired to discharge the loan due to the death, 

14 disability, or inability to engage in any substan15 tial gainful activity of the borrower in accord16 ance with section 437(a), and an explanation 

17 that, in the case of a private education loan 

18 made through a private educational lender, the 

19 borrower, the borrower’s estate, and any 

20 consigner of a such a private education loan 

21 may be obligated to repay the full amount of 

22 the loan, regardless of the death or disability of 

23 the borrower or any other condition described in 

24 section 437(a). 


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1 ‘‘(M) The model form for the State in 

2 which the institution is located with respect to 

3 durable power of attorneys published by the 

4 Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys5 tem in accordance with subsection (f)(3)(A) of 

6 section 140 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 1650) and, in the case of a borrower 

8 who is not a resident of the State in which the 

9 institution is located, information on how to ac10 cess such model form for the State in which the 

11 borrower is a resident.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 28, 

2010. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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