Bankruptcy Bills

Re “Bankruptcy Reform Bills Would Make Things Worse,” Commentary, June 21: It is clear there is some need of reform. However, it is equally clear that the present measures before Congress will only serve creditors and in many ways defeat the basic reason for having bankruptcy laws.

The loan industry has the power to solve most of its own problems. It is the industry’s policy of offering to increase clients’ debt load to the point of collapse that has caused the greatest problem. Then in panic, the industry has turned to severely punishing those who get into difficulty by freezing them totally out of the loan market regardless of the circumstances surrounding their bankruptcy and their present financial situation. What is needed on the part of the loan industry is more restraint in lending to those presently characterized as “good risks” and a recognition that not everyone who goes bankrupt represents a significant future credit risk.

RICHARD H. KNOX, Bishop