HR 5458 RFS
1,000,000 people in the United States or approxi-
mately 12,000 new cases each year. Since there have 
not been any overall incidence studies of spinal cord 
injuries in the United States since the 1970s, it is 
not known if incidence has changed in recent years. 
(5) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per-
cent of students attending a 4-year public school, 
and 26.2 percent of students attending a 4-year pri-
vate school, borrowed monies from private edu-
cational lenders. 
(6) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the num-
ber of cosigned private education loans increased 
from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private edu-
cation loans. 
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL STUDENT LOAN PROTECTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 140 of the Truth in Lend-
ing Act (15 U.S.C. 1650) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL
PROTECTIONS
RELATING
TO 
DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF 
A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 
‘‘(1) OBLIGATION TO DISCUSS DURABLE POWER 
OF ATTORNEYS.—In conjunction with— 
‘‘(A) any student loan counseling, if any, 
provided by a covered educational institution to 
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any new borrower and cosigner (if any) at the 
time of any loan application, loan origination, 
or loan consolidation, or at the time the co-
signer assumes responsibility for repayment, the 
institution shall provide information with re-
spect to creating a durable power of attorney 
for financial decisionmaking, in accordance with 
State law; and 
‘‘(B) any application for a private edu-
cation loan, the private educational lender in-
volved in such loan shall provide information to 
the borrower, and cosigner (if any), concerning 
the creation of a durable power of attorney for 
financial decisionmaking, in accordance with 
State law, with respect to such loan. 
‘‘(2) CLEAR
AND
CONSPICUOUS
DESCRIPTION 
OF COSIGNER’S OBLIGATION.—In the case of any 
private educational lender who extends a private 
education loan for which any cosigner is jointly lia-
ble, the lender shall clearly and conspicuously de-
scribe, in writing, the cosigner’s obligations with re-
spect to the loan, including the effect the death, dis-
ability, or inability to engage in any substantial 
gainful activity of the borrower or cosigner (if any) 
would have on any such obligation, in language that 
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the Board determines would give a reasonable per-
son a reasonable understanding of the obligation 
being assumed by becoming a cosigner for the loan. 
‘‘(3) MODEL FORMS.—The Board shall publish 
model forms under section 105 for— 
‘‘(A) the information required under para-
graph (1) with respect to a durable power of at-
torney for financial decisionmaking, for each 
State (and such model forms under this sub-
paragraph shall be uniform for all States to the 
greatest extent possible); and 
‘‘(B) describing a cosigner’s obligation for 
purposes of paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) DEFINITION OF DEATH, DISABILITY, OR 
INABILITY TO ENGAGE IN ANY SUBSTANTIAL GAIN-
FUL ACTIVITY.—For the purposes of this subsection 
with respect to a borrower or cosigner, the term 
‘death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub-
stantial gainful activity’— 
‘‘(A) means any condition described in sec-
tion 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)); and 
‘‘(B) shall be interpreted by the Board in 
such a manner as to conform with the regula-
tions prescribed by such Secretary of Education 
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under section 437(a) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)) to the fullest 
extent practicable, including safeguards to pre-
vent fraud and abuse.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 140 of 
the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(9) DURABLE
POWER
OF
ATTORNEY.—The 
term ‘durable power of attorney’— 
‘‘(A) means a written instruction recog-
nized under State law (whether statutory or as 
recognized by the courts of the State), relating 
to financial decisionmaking in cases when the 
individual lacks the capacity to make such deci-
sions; or 
‘‘(B) has the meaning given to such term 
in the Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act 
of 2006 and sections 5-501 through 5-505 of 
the Uniform Probate Code, as in effect in any 
State. 
‘‘(10) COSIGNER.—The term ‘cosigner’— 
‘‘(A) means any individual who is liable for 
the obligation of another without compensation, 
regardless of how designated in the contract or 
instrument; 
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‘‘(B) includes any person whose signature 
is requested as condition to grant credit or to 
forebear on collection; and 
‘‘(C) does not include a spouse of an indi-
vidual referred to in subparagraph (A) whose 
signature is needed to perfect the security inter-
est in the loan.’’. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 
Section 485(l)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(l)(2)) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(L) Information on the conditions re-
quired to discharge the loan due to the death, 
disability, or inability to engage in any substan-
tial gainful activity of the borrower in accord-
ance with section 437(a), and an explanation 
that, in the case of a private education loan 
made through a private educational lender, the 
borrower, the borrower’s estate, and any 
consigner of a such a private education loan 
may be obligated to repay the full amount of 
the loan, regardless of the death or disability of 
the borrower or any other condition described in 
section 437(a). 
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