Wells Fargo To Forgive Loans In Student Death, Disability
Wells Fargo & Co. is changing the terms of its private student loan agreements, forgiving loans beginning Friday if a student beneficiary dies or is permanently disabled.
Previously, a student borrower's co-signer -- often a family member -- was required to continue repaying the loan, even if the student died or became incapacitated.
Wells Fargo said the policy shift was unrelated to a proposal currently wending its way through Congress that would require lenders to more clearly detail the responsibilities that co-borrowers would have in the case of a student's death or disability. The bill wouldn't require lenders to discharge loans in such circumstances.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed its version of the Christopher Bryski Student Loan Protection Act in September, and the bill was introduced in the Senate earlier this month. The bill honors a Rutgers University student who died in 2006 but whose family continues to make monthly payments on his $44,500 in private loans.
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