I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4643 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish requirements for releasing 
a cosigner from obligations of a private education loan, for the treatment 
of the loan upon the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner of the loan, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 9, 2014 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. PIERLUISI, Mr. HECK of Washington, Mr. CARSON of In-
diana, Mr. ENYART, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. MORAN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish require-
ments for releasing a cosigner from obligations of a 
private education loan, for the treatment of the loan 
upon the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner of the loan, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bereaved Borrowers’ 
Bill of Rights Act of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL 
LENDERS. 
Section 140 of such Act is further amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(g) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING COSIGNERS FOR A 
PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 
‘‘(1) COSIGNER RELEASE REQUIREMENTS.—If a 
private education loan has a cosigner who is jointly 
liable for such loan, a private educational lender 
shall include a process for releasing the cosigner 
from any obligations on the loan and in such process 
the lender— 
‘‘(A) shall make the criteria for obtaining 
the release clear, transparent, and easily acces-
sible via the website of the private educational 
lender; 
‘‘(B) shall notify the borrower if the bor-
rower is eligible to release a cosigner; 
‘‘(C) shall, if denying a request to release 
a cosigner, provide an explanation for the denial 
and offer the borrower an opportunity to cor-
rect the request; and 
‘‘(D) may not change the terms of the re-
lease to impose additional duties on the bor-
rower or cosigner over the duration of the pri-
vate education loan. 
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‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL
REQUIREMENTS.—Notwith-
standing any provision in a private education loan 
agreement that contains a process for releasing a co-
signer from obligations on the loan, a private edu-
cational lender shall, upon receiving notification of 
the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner— 
‘‘(A) notify the borrower about the bor-
rower’s rights under the private education loan 
agreement regarding the release of the cosigner; 
and 
‘‘(B) if the borrower continues to make on- 
time payments (in the amount determined prior 
to the death or bankruptcy of the cosigner) on 
the private education loan, provide a period of 
time of not less than 90 days for the borrower 
to follow the process for release of the cosigner 
before deeming the borrower to be in default, 
changing the terms of the loan, accelerating the 
repayment terms of the loan, or notifying con-
sumer reporting agencies (as defined in section 
603(f)) of a change in the status of the loan. 
‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS IN CASE OF DEATH OR 
BANKRUPTCY
OF
A
COSIGNER.—Notwithstanding 
any provision in a private education loan agreement, 
a private educational lender shall, upon receiving no-
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tification of the death or bankruptcy of a cosigner 
who is jointly liable for the private education loan— 
‘‘(A) notify the borrower about the bor-
rower’s rights under the private education loan 
agreement regarding identifying a new cosigner 
or refinancing the loan; and 
‘‘(B) if the borrower continues to make on- 
time payments (in the amount determined prior 
to the death or bankruptcy of the cosigner) on 
the private education loan, provide a period of 
time of not less than 90 days for a borrower to 
identify a new cosigner or refinance the loan be-
fore deeming the borrower to be in default, 
changing the terms of the loan, accelerating the 
repayment terms of the loan, or notifying con-
sumer reporting agencies (as defined in section 
603(f)) of a change in the status of the loan.’’. 
SEC. 3. PROHIBITIONS FOR CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN-
CIES AND FURNISHERS OF INFORMATION TO 
CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES RELATED 
TO PRIVATE EDUCATION LOANS. 
(a) PROHIBITION FOR CONSUMER REPORTING AGEN-
CIES.—Subsection (a) of section 605 of the Fair Credit 
Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(7) Default on a private education loan (as de-
fined in section 140(a)) resulting from accelerated 
repayment terms of the loan after the death or 
bankruptcy of a cosigner who is jointly liable for the 
loan.’’. 
(b) PROHIBITION FOR FURNISHERS OF INFORMA-
TION TO CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.—Paragraph 
(1) of section 623(a) of such Act is amended by adding 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) REPORTING
INFORMATION
ON
PRI-
VATE
EDUCATION
LOANS.—A private edu-
cational lender (as defined in section 140(a)) or 
the servicer of a private education loan (as de-
fined in such section) shall not furnish any in-
formation relating to the loan to any consumer 
reporting agency if the consumer defaulted on 
the loan due to accelerated repayment terms of 
the loan after the death or bankruptcy of a co-
signer who is jointly liable for the loan.’’. 
Æ 
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