Dean S. Marriott, senior deputy comptroller of...

Dean S. Marriott, senior deputy comptroller of the currency for bank supervision, told the nation’s bank executives in a letter sent to 5,000 federally chartered banks that they should make sure the clients who get home equity loans are worth the lending risk, “particularly in a rising interest-rate environment.” Marriott’s three-page letter did not elaborate on interest rates or on why he decided to write the banks. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency spokesman Dean DeBuck said the letter went out because bankers were giving out so many loans. Various studies indicate the volume of home equity loans will double from last year to total $80 billion in 1987.