Easy Credit and Personal Honor

* Re “Deeper Hole for Debtors,” editorial, March 2: Not only is the federal bankruptcy reform legislation bad news for those trying to get their personal debt under control, it is a boon to credit card companies, the actual sources of much of the problem. There seems to be no control over who is sent credit card applications. My daughters started receiving them when they were still in high school, more than 20 years ago. I have been widowed since 1986, and I still receive applications in my husband’s name “based upon his good credit record,” even though his name does not appear on my credit records.

It’s past time there was something done to make the credit card industry act responsibly, instead of being responsible for much of our nation’s personal debt.

JEAN F. COHEN

Los Angeles

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With all of the talk about bankruptcy reform, I never hear the word “honor.” When our business partnership terminated, my former partner immediately started her own business doing exactly what we had done as partners. She took our clients with her, put her business in her sister’s name in order to loosely disguise ownership and filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy court, at which I appeared to protest the filing, simply ignored the outpouring of testimony and documentation describing her real situation. The result was that my ex-partner, with a successful business that she didn’t “own,” was relieved of all of our former debt while I, almost five years later, continue to struggle to pay the bills she left behind.

It is clear that many are allowed to abuse the system, and in the case I witnessed, it was in clear view of the judge. There was a time when debtors needed protection, but maybe we’ve gone too far. I’m not a creditor or an institution, but I wish the courts had been watching out for me. I wanted to pay my debts. And everyone tells me I made a big mistake. Since when is the idea of honor a mistake? We need reform, but maybe it’s beyond the courts.

DONNA FLEMING

Malibu