Deceased N.J. student’s loan forgiven

Six years after their son passed away, a New Jersey family can stop making payments on his student loan.

Christopher Bryski of Marlton passed away in 2006 from a traumatic brain injury. His father, Joseph Bryski, was told he had to pay off his son’s private student loan of nearly $50,000 because he had co-signed it.

The family continued to make payments, but started a campaign asking the bank to forgive the loan.

Christopher’s brother Ryan Bryski says the lender, Key Bank, did not respond to their requests until they put a petition on the popular website www.change.org last week; “80,000 signatures in five days got the bank’s attention,” said Bryski.

Bryski says even though their financial hardship is now resolved, the family will continue to lobby for legislation named for Christopher that would require private lenders to inform borrowers and co-signers in more detail about their responsibilities in case of death and disability.

“Other families are still going through what we have been through, and we’re not going to stop pushing for the bill,” he said.

Bryski says he is grateful that the bank has forgiven the loan, a decision that has brought much relief to his family. “We will have more closure now, that we aren’t reminded of our loss every month when we make the payment to the lender that we were associated with,” he said.

He says he is grateful for the support the family received in their petition to have the loan forgiven.