I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3240 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 21, 2011 

Mr. PASCRELL (for himself and Mr. RUNYAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to 

be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

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’’. 


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

2 (1) No requirement exists for private edu3 cational lenders’ promissory notes to include a clear 

4 and conspicuous description of the responsibilities of 

5 a borrower and cosigner in the event the borrower 

6 or cosigner becomes disabled, incapacitated, or dies. 

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

8 traumatic brain injury each year, with older adoles9 cents aged 15 to 19 years old more likely to sustain 

10 a traumatic brain injury than other age groups. 

11 (3) It has been estimated that the annual inci12 dence of spinal cord injury, not including those who 

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

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

15 approximately 12,000 new cases each year. These in16 juries can lead to permanent disability or loss of 

17 movement and can prohibit the victim from engaging 

18 in any substantial gainful activity. 

19 (4) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per20 cent of students attending a 4-year public institution 

21 of higher education, and 26.2 percent of students at22 tending a 4-year private institution of higher edu23 cation, borrowed monies from private educational 

24 lenders. 


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1 (5) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the per2 centage of cosigned private education loans in3 creased from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private 

4 education loans. 

5 SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL STUDENT LOAN PROTECTIONS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 140 of the Truth in Lend7 ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650) is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following: 

9 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS RELATING TO

10 DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF

11 A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 

12 ‘‘(1) CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS DESCRIPTION

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

14 private educational lender who extends a private 

15 education loan for which any cosigner is jointly lia16 ble, the lender shall clearly and conspicuously de17 scribe, in writing, the cosigner’s obligations with re18 spect to the loan, including the effect the death, dis19 ability, or inability to engage in any substantial 

20 gainful activity of the borrower or any cosigner 

21 would have on any such obligation, in language that 

22 the Bureau determines would give a reasonable per23 son a reasonable understanding of the obligation 

24 being assumed by becoming a cosigner for the loan. 


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

2 a model form under section 105 for describing a co3 signer’s obligation for purposes of paragraph (1). 

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

5 INABILITY TO ENGAGE IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL GAIN6 FUL ACTIVITY.—For the purposes of this subsection 

7 with respect to a borrower or cosigner, the term 

8 ‘death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub9 stantial gainful activity’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means any condition described in sec11 tion 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

12 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)); and 

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

14 such a manner as to conform with the regula15 tions prescribed by the Secretary of Education 

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

17 1087(a)) to the fullest extent practicable, in18 cluding safeguards to prevent fraud and 

19 abuse.’’. 

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

21 the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amend22 ed— 

23 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

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


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1 (2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes2 ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘cosigner’— 

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

5 the obligation of another without compensation, 

6 regardless of how designated in the contract or 

7 instrument; 

8 ‘‘(B) includes any person whose signature 

9 is requested as condition to grant credit or to 

10 forbear on collection; and 

11 ‘‘(C) does not include a spouse of an indi12 vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) whose 

13 signature is needed to perfect the security inter14 est in the loan;’’. 

15 SEC. 3. FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

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

17 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(l)(2)) is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following: 

19 ‘‘(L) Information on the conditions re20 quired to discharge the loan due to the death, 

21 disability, or inability to engage in any substan22 tial gainful activity of the borrower in accord23 ance with section 437(a), and an explanation 

24 that, in the case of a private education loan 

25 made through a private educational lender (as 


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1 such terms are defined in section 140 of the 

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

3 borrower, the borrower’s estate, and any co4 signer of such a private education loan may be 

5 obligated to repay the full amount of the loan, 

6 regardless of the death or disability of the bor7 rower or any other condition described in sec8 tion 437(a).’’. 

Æ 


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