Scenes from the small-business lending wars

President Barack Obama's calls for banks to extend more loans to small-business owners come too late for Tari Dudley, who said she was even turned down for a loan backed 100 percent with a $30,000 certificate of deposit, a fraction of what she was seeking. Starting in December 2008, Dudley tried to get financing for a woman-owned, woman-friendly auto repair garage by approaching a large national bank where she had been a customer for 24 years. She had $47,000 in assets and was told that her credit score was excellent. But the loan officer didn't bother to hand her an application, she recalled. Instead, he wrote her name and phone number on a 1-inch adhesive note. "That was it," Dudley said, adding that she felt insulted and certain that the scrap of paper would be thrown away. Two community banks said they liked the concept of a repair shop geared toward women and gave her loan applications. Each then mulled over her request for $250,000 for three weeks before turning her down. Dudley is far from alone.