(540~371-5615 ’ .Fax (540) 371-3505 

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.~ -. September 15, 1?9S. 

Mike Catch&, .Dire&or ,,,. I. 

Rapid,CityHousing Coalition .’ ,, I. ~. 

2040 W. Ma$Street, Ste, 209 .- ‘, 

Rapid City, SD 57702 

,fax6051341-9939’ : ‘. y ~., .:. 

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Deaf ,$fr. G&hex _~ ,_ 

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~City Housing C&&ion’s challenge to the prdposed inerger ofNorw& Corporation and Wells 

Fargo &Cr~mpany. First Nations commends yoti e&ts,to btig-about change-in the way banks 

do business with Indian Country since this is vital to our ability to act w our ,oxyn change agents in 

creating economic developnie$ oppor&iities and growth. 

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.First ,Nathh~ ha.$ al& tonducted &tiiuch ‘@cSfic to the’keech ofNative comm&ities:in the ‘.. 

Plains states for access to credit;~inves@+tS and.fuian&d se&ices. We have collected responses ~~ 

from 164Native$&ple, from tri%es,~N&v~ nonprofit organ&&is .tid gr&ps horn Mikeiota, 

~M+ana,:NorttGakota, South Dak&& Wyoti& Nevada, Oregon, California and New Mexico. 

I%findings of this res&rch point, to t$e pde,gaps,that exist between the needs of I$ativc.people y 

for,lending, credit and b&g setities and the act&financiaLand banking ser&xs that reach 

,out andbenefit Native people.. Given the &pa#y that exi&be&.een.the two; and based on & 

quatitatiye re&xrch f&dings; we. are submitting,te&nony ihat recommends conditional apprOvaL ” 

oftbe merger. First N&ions’ approvalis,c+iditioti’on’l) ar? er@riwJ corn$arative study, ‘1 :. 

i ofNorwest’s loan d&al rates to Natives 2j anz&ninatioti.ofWells’F&go’s f&lending s 

.prac&es with +&d tdtNative lo~.applictits &d 3) a con&tment to engage in a nati&al : 

dialogue with Native, people to &xu.ss~e.&blisbme& of a.n Indian Country specific Iending ~’ 

ag&ement. .IJowever,.given the weak ho& l&ding.numbe~, evidenced ti the Rapid City arti, ,’ 1 

and based on t& stzengtb ofthe tigume~~t deveioped’by the Coalition and yourpar@ers,.qre : ~. 

endorse’yourefforts to challenge this bank merger td inip~ovkopportunities for home lending z&d 

f?nancin& for Na?ive,people:in SouthDakota. :. :. : ’ ,. : 1; ( .- 

We ah knk~~f?om.e.xperience that a.&i&d &ort ~&&Nat& peopiehas the p&e&l &spark. ’ ” *’ 

change,and eradicate institutional p$ems ofdiscriminati~~: improve poor andi@equate 

services and remove barriers fo aocess. Welmow tit better a&ess to fihan&l services in Indian 

Countryhas already been achieved by iudividualr&ervatio~ cc&mu&es through the conxnuni~ 

Reinvestment Act, but we also know that much more must be’done for all mIes andNative 

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people. We, alo&with the Rapid City Housing 

‘Coalition, the ~akotaFuud,JJNITY and other 

Native~partners, would like to see a specific commitment from$rorwest and WellsFargo that will 

‘spell out how the merged entity wih servt5 I&an Country. It is ciitical for banks to establish 

working paruierships with tribal representatives in their area, thus we support the establishmeot of 

collaborative eE0r-t.s to identify and address the unique lend+g, investment and development’ 

needsinI!ldiaJlCountry. 

First Nations pledges our support to the :Rapid City Housing Coalitiou, and its partners, ~31 this 

endeavor to tinstire that Native concerns are heard aad that financial institutions are responsive to 

American Indian tribes and comrmmities. 

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Sincerelv. 

.Vice Presideit 
MB. GARYLODDNER,FOUNDER/ 

PRESIDENT, 

BLACK HILLS SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS--NEWS OF SD 

SNAIL MAIL: 2725 West Omaha St.,Rapid City, SD 57702-8143-31 

FAX:(please single page,605-341-0675) 

Wednesday, 3 September, 1998 

(THIS STATEMENT GIVEN TO THE RAPID CITY HOUSING COALIATION) 

***LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALLY MEN(PERSONS),*** 

I, Mr. Gary L. Loudner, a current Norwest savings depositor(Account 

0911--529151,Region Six, Mt. View),has been with Norwest for several 

years since 1993 and on two different occasions applied for credit 

and most recent xtopen*Tine of credit with Minneapolis based,Tires Plus. 4 

and was denied both times. 

I am a($j%~Czx~~kh n ian gentleman.and co1 cts Social Security Disability 

benefits, monthly. 

(**=several hundred dollar 

C/C Norwest Mountain View Richard (?). 

Pete Cappa, Rapid City Main Office Management, 

Region Six Management Gary Olson, 101 N Phillips Ave., 

K)fk&asfoux Falls, SD 57104 
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: To’ Whom It May Concern: :’ 

T&is in~re&rds,to Norwest &nk and, what I feel ~their~poiicy to, be. _ 

Irt years p&,:I.was .a client and had loans,‘some with collateral, some with none, which I 

always~paid back on times including each payment:, :~ 

As years pait :I'catne to. regard the service]at Non+& less than comfortable. I began to : ‘~ 

feel as if i Gas a n~ber and not a person. 

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ISlast t&I~trh& take out’s loan, “y past &&ent~l&tb~ $sn’t even considered : 

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‘, and I~fe1t~that~Ivva.s not treated fairly. :’ ‘- :~~ ; 

‘: I have also had~dea@gs where I was given to understand that information that 1~ received ~’ 

,. : :: was suppose to have.,been kept. confider&& I believed at that time mat’these dealings :: : ” 

:~ Were not~righ~~but’ cot& not be proven as it would shave been considered “hearsay” by : - ‘~ ,~ ~. 

,.’ ~me and me,pemox$ involved would havedenied it~knowingthat’oneofthem would,have ‘~ ’ ,~‘~ 

‘1 ‘4&t hisjob..,~ id..’ ~‘~ ,._L ~j ,’ ,’ 

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I do,not care to &business. with so’meone I don’t fee! comforfabie @rusting or with ,” ~‘.i 

. . tihom I~ feel is’talking down to me or sees me as just~another number_ .: 

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September 10,199s 

To Whom It May Concern: 

My name is Stacey Red Willow, I am a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and live in Rapid City. 

My family opened an account withNonvest Bank, 825 St. Joseph St. in 1991. The services we received by 

the employees of the bank were unprofessional. They weren’t helpful 01 willing to work with us. Due to 

the past experience, I have commented to friends and families on the bad services and would not 

recommend banking with Nonvest. 

Sincerely, . 
~, September 15,~ 1998, 

.Tb Whom’h May ~Concem: ‘~I, 

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~, , This letter is with regards to Not-west Bank, their~policies, and what I perceive to be their 

i: Customer Service relations. :~ 

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,‘-I opened an account with Norwest~Bank in April of 1997. To date I have never had an 

,. overdraft or any problems with my account. I moved back to Rapid City in November of 

., .~ j : .~ .1997 keeping~myaccount with Nonvest.. In Rapid CityIfiequent only~one bank and 

‘. every time I go in,,I’m made to feeMat first @all they don’t believe me and second that 

riiy acc#ount ,is not mat,im$o$aht simply because~it isn’t a,large one (my perce$ion). 

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‘. I have also taken,_checks tom deposit only, for~my&&dmother in her account;md have ‘, 

~~ ‘, ~.~ been told that I wasn’t aloud to deposit them. ‘I don’tunderstand this policy. It~would~ ‘~~’ .. 

: ‘seem to me that ,myone~shouId be able to~deposit money ~if the deposit slip is filled out. ~~ ‘, 

correctly, which it~was.. ~1 understand,not~,being,able to ,write a checkon her account, but I c 

,’ .’ don? understand not being.able~ to deposit~money.foi her.’ : 

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~,’ ,’ ~; I am currently rn the process of changing bat+; a$ I, do not care for the Customer Service 

,relations I have encountered vvith bIor\hiest Bank. ~,I feel,that~they are’prejudicial, not only 

.,z~ towardrace~but also towardsocial status ~’ ~~, r,- :‘_ .’ 

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