I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2961 
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 
AUGUST 1, 2013 
Mr. PASCRELL (for himself and Mr. RUNYAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 to require additional disclosures and 
protections for students and cosigners with respect to 
student loans, 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; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act’’ or 
‘‘Christopher’s Law’’. 
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(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) No requirement exists for private edu-
cational lenders’ promissory notes to include a clear 
and conspicuous description of the responsibilities of 
a borrower and cosigner in the event the borrower 
or cosigner becomes disabled, incapacitated, or dies. 
(2) According to the Annual Report of the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) Stu-
dent Loan Ombudsman, dated October 16, 2012: 
(A) ‘‘In less than seven months, the CFPB 
has handled approximately 2,900 private stu-
dent loan complaints.’’. 
(B) ‘‘Co-signers complain that information 
about discharge or alternative arrangements in 
the case of death of the primary borrower is not 
readily available and that decisions are made on 
a case-by-case basis, giving co-signers little un-
derstanding of how the process works, or if they 
will be successful.’’. 
(C) ‘‘The complaints and input received by 
the CFPB resemble many of the same issues 
experienced by mortgage borrowers, such as im-
proper application of payments, untimeliness in 
error resolution, and inability to contact appro-
priate personnel in times of hardship.’’. 
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(D) ‘‘The difference between federal and 
private student loans in periods of disability 
was not well-understood.’’. 
(E) ‘‘There are at least $8 billion of pri-
vate student loans in default, representing more 
than 850,000 individual loans.’’. 
(F) ‘‘While lenders do provide the terms of 
agreement in promissory notes, including asso-
ciated benefits and protections, many borrowers 
state they were unaware of the categorical dif-
ferences between federal and private protec-
tions.’’. 
(3) No requirement exists for a private edu-
cation loan borrower to designate an alternate point 
of contact on their account in the event of their 
death or permanent disability. 
(4) An estimated 1,700,000 people sustain a 
traumatic brain injury each year, with older adoles-
cents aged 15 to 19 years old more likely to sustain 
a traumatic brain injury than other age groups. 
(5) It has been estimated that the annual inci-
dence of spinal cord injury, not including those who 
die at the scene of an accident, is approximately 40 
cases per 1,000,000 people in the United States or 
approximately 12,000 new cases each year. These in-
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juries can lead to permanent disability or loss of 
movement and can prohibit the victim from engaging 
in any substantial gainful activity. 
(6) In the 2007–2008 academic year, 13 per-
cent of students attending a 4-year public institution 
of higher education, and 26.2 percent of students at-
tending a 4-year private institution of higher edu-
cation, borrowed monies from private educational 
lenders. 
(7) According to Sallie Mae, in 2009, the per-
centage of cosigned private education loans in-
creased from 66 percent to 84 percent of all private 
education 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: 
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL
PROTECTIONS
RELATING
TO 
DEATH OR DISABILITY OF BORROWER OR COSIGNER OF 
A PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 
‘‘(1) CLEAR
AND
CONSPICUOUS
DESCRIPTION 
OF BORROWER’S AND COSIGNER’S OBLIGATION.—In 
the case of any private educational lender who ex-
tends a private education loan, the lender shall 
clearly and conspicuously describe, in writing, the 
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cosigner’s obligations with respect to the loan, in-
cluding the effect the death, disability, or inability to 
engage in any substantial gainful activity of the bor-
rower or any cosigner would have on any such obli-
gation, in language that the Bureau determines 
would give a reasonable person a reasonable under-
standing of the obligation being assumed by becom-
ing a cosigner for the loan. 
‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF INDIVIDUAL TO ACT ON 
BEHALF OF THE BORROWER.—In the case of any 
private educational lender who extends a private 
education loan, the lender shall require the borrower 
to designate an individual to have the legal authority 
to act on behalf of the borrower with respect to the 
private education loan in the event of the borrower’s 
death, disability, or inability to engage in any sub-
stantial gainful activity. 
‘‘(3) COUNSELING.—In the case of any private 
educational lender who extends a private education 
loan, the lender shall ensure that the borrower, and 
any cosigner, receives comprehensive information on 
the terms and conditions of the loan and of the re-
sponsibilities the borrower has with respect to such 
loan, including the information described under sec-
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tion 485(l)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1092(l)(2)). 
‘‘(4) MODEL FORM.—The Bureau shall publish 
a model form under section 105 for describing a co-
signer’s obligation for purposes of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(5) 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 Bureau in 
such a manner as to conform with the regula-
tions prescribed by the Secretary of Education 
under section 437(a) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 
1087(a)) to the fullest extent practicable, in-
cluding safeguards to prevent fraud and 
abuse.’’. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 140 of 
the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 
(8) as paragraphs (2) through (9), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting before paragraph (2) (as redes-
ignated by paragraph (1)) the following: 
‘‘(1) 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; 
‘‘(B) includes any person whose signature 
is requested as condition to grant credit or to 
forbear 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;’’. 
(c) RULEMAKING.—Not later than the end of the 1- 
year period following the date of the enactment of this 
Act, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall 
issue regulations to carry out section 140(g) of the Truth 
in Lending Act. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 
(a) COUNSELING INFORMATION.—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: 
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‘‘(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 (as 
such terms are defined in section 140 of the 
Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650)), the 
borrower, the borrower’s estate, and any co-
signer of such a private education loan may be 
obligated to repay the full amount of the loan, 
regardless of the death or disability of the bor-
rower or any other condition described in sec-
tion 437(a). 
‘‘(M) Any repayment, refinance, deferment, 
forbearance, or forgiveness opportunities avail-
able to the borrower, or cosigner, in the event 
of either individual’s death, disability, or inabil-
ity to engage in any substantial gainful activity. 
‘‘(N) The effect that the death, disability, 
or inability to engage in any substantial gainful 
activity of the borrower would have on the obli-
gations of the borrower and any cosigner of the 
loan.’’. 
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(b) DESIGNATION OF INDIVIDUAL TO ACT ON BE-
HALF
OF
THE BORROWER.—Section 484(a)(4) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091(a)(4)) is 
amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(2) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph: 
‘‘(C) a designation by such student of an 
individual who shall have the legal authority to 
act on behalf of the student with respect to any 
loan to the student under this title in the event 
of the student’s death, disability, or inability to 
engage in any substantial gainful activity;’’. 
Æ 
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