Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: promissory note/school loan

I'm sure you are misreading your Promissory Note. A contract cannot contain valid provisions that affect the discharge of a debt in bankruptcy. The law was whatever the law was when you filed your bankruptcy case. If it required 7 years of repayment prior to filing in order to obtain a discharge, then that's what it was. Your Note probably said something along the lines of "you will be unable to discharge the obligations of this Note in a bankruptcy case unless it has been in repayment status for 5 years, or unless you prove 'undue hardship' after trial on the merits". However, that is essentially just an explanatory provision, not a binding part of the contract. I assume (although I haven't seen the provision you're referring to) that it was merely stating what the bankruptcy law was at the time you signed your Note, but that certainly doesn't prevent the law from being changed by Congress.