Rosen v. Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, n/k/a T, 668 B.R. 541

James Alan Rosen, a 79-year-old debtor, sought to discharge a consolidated student loan originally taken out over 20 years ago for his daughters’ education.
Over 22 years, Rosen paid about $37,769 on a $58,733 loan, but due to forbearances, deferments, and compounding interest, the balance grew to over $63,800.
Rosen and his spouse live on fixed income (Social Security and a modest pension), with total monthly income nearly equal to their necessary living expenses.
Rosen has significant and worsening health problems, limiting his ability to work; he and his wife already defer necessary medical care due to finances.
After defaulting on higher payments, Rosen enrolled in an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, but even these lower payments were projected to persist indefinitely and not meaningfully reduce the principal balance.
Rosen filed an adversary proceeding in his chapter 7 bankruptcy to seek discharge of the student loan debt as an undue hardship under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Dischargeability under § 523(a)(8) (undue hardship)	Rosen cannot maintain a minimal standard of living if required to pay; hardships are permanent; he acted in good faith over 22 years	Trellis: Rosen's budget allows for some payment; should cut more costs; not all expense reductions explored; no good faith effort without further expense reductions	Court: Rosen meets all Brunner prongs, payment is undue hardship; debt is discharged.

Brunner v. New York Higher Education Services Corp., 831 F.2d 395 (2d Cir. 1987) (establishes a three-prong test for discharging student loan debt in bankruptcy based on undue hardship)
Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp. v. Frushour, 433 F.3d 393 (4th Cir. 2005) (adopts Brunner test as controlling in Fourth Circuit)
Long v. Educ. Credit Mgmt. Corp., 322 F.3d 549 (8th Cir. 2003) (contrasts totality-of-the-circumstances test with Brunner in other circuits)