As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise
requires:
(1) Collection agency means a collection agency, as defined in section 5-16-103 (3), that collects or attempts to collect, directly or indirectly, a consumer
debt resulting from a private education credit obligation. The term includes a debt
buyer, as defined in section 5-16-103 (8.5).
(2) (a) Cosigner means any individual who is liable for the obligation of
another without compensation, regardless of how the individual is designated in the
contract or instrument with respect to that obligation, including an obligation under
a private education credit obligation extended to consolidate a borrower's
preexisting student loans. The term includes any individual whose signature is
requested as a condition to grant credit or to forbear on collection.
(b) Cosigner does not include a spouse of an individual described in
subsection (2)(a) of this section if the spouse's signature is needed solely to perfect
the security interest in a loan.
(3) Repealed.
(4) Postsecondary educational institution means an institution that
provides postsecondary instruction, as defined in section 23-60-103 (3), including
an employer that provides education and training to a worker where the expense of
the education and training is recoverable pursuant to section 8-2-113 (3)(a).
(5) Postsecondary education expense means any expense associated with
a student's enrollment in, or attendance at, a postsecondary educational institution,
including an employer's recoverable expense of educating and training a worker
pursuant to section 8-2-113 (3)(a).
(6) Repealed.
(7) (a) Private education credit obligation means a student education credit
obligation that, unless otherwise exempt:
(I) Is not made, insured, or guaranteed under Title IV of the federal Higher
Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. sec. 1070 et seq., as amended; and
(II) Is extended to a consumer expressly, in whole or in part, for
postsecondary educational expenses, regardless of whether the credit obligation is
provided by the postsecondary educational institution that the student attends,
including a payment plan or financing.
(b) Private education credit obligation does not include:
(I) A loan that is secured by real property, regardless of the purpose of the
loan; or
(II) An extension of credit in which the covered postsecondary educational
institution is the creditor if:
(A) The term of the extension of credit is ninety days or less; or
(B) An interest rate is not applied to the credit balance and the term of the
extension of credit is one year or less, even if the credit is payable in more than four
installments.
(7.5) (a) Private education creditor or creditor means:
(I) Any person engaged in the business of making or extending private
education credit obligation;
(II) A holder of a private education credit obligation; or
(III) A seller, lessor, lender, or person that makes or arranges a private
education credit obligation and to whom the private education credit obligation is
initially payable or the assignee of a creditor's right to payment.
(b) Private education creditor or creditor does not include:
(I) A bank, as defined in 12 U.S.C. sec. 1841 (c);
(II) A credit union;
(III) An industrial bank organized under Title 7, Chapter 8, Financial
Institutions Act, Utah Code Annotated, as amended; or
(IV) A collection agency, as defined in section 5-16-103 (3).
(8) Private education credit borrower means any resident of Colorado,
including a student loan borrower, who has received or agreed to pay a private
education credit obligation for the resident's own postsecondary education
expenses or any resident of Colorado who cosigns for a private education credit
obligation.
(8.5) Refinanced means an existing private education credit obligation is
satisfied and replaced by a new private education credit obligation undertaken by
the same consumer.
(9) (a) Total and permanent disability means, except as otherwise provided
in subsection (9)(b) of this section, the condition of an individual who:
(I) Has been determined by the United States secretary of veterans affairs to
be unemployable due to a service-connected disability; or
(II) Is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any
medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to
result in death, has lasted for a continuous period of not less than twelve months, or
can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve months.
(b) Total and permanent disability does not include a condition that has not
progressed or been exacerbated, or that the individual did not acquire, until after
the closing of the loan agreement.