CFPB Winds Down Probe of Community Loan Funds Targeted by Vought
Rankings & Awards<br>Research Tools
Log In<br>Sign Up For Newsletters
Banking
Listen PrintEmail
Share To:Facebook<br>LinkedIn
Related Stories<br>Community Lenders Get Shrunken Grant, Guarantee Application Time June 29, 2026, 5:52 PM UTC
CFPB Investigating Community Lenders Targeted by Trump for Cuts May 26, 2026, 9:00 AM UTC
Treasury Inspecting ‘Predatory’ Actions by Community Lenders (1) April 27, 2026, 4:20 PM UTC
House GOP Appropriators Buck Trump on Community Lender Funding April 16, 2026, 2:58 PM UTC
Trump’s Limits on Community Lenders Slammed by Credit Unions April 13, 2026, 6:04 PM UTC
More Stories (1)<br>Search by Topic<br>credit unions<br>car title loans<br>foreign worker employment<br>subprime lending
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped an investigation into at least two community lenders funded through a federal program the Trump administration is trying to cut.<br>The CFPB closed its probe into the Self-Help Ventures Fund, according to a Thursday letter from Calvin R. Hagins, the principal deputy assistant director in the agency’s Office of Supervision Examinations, obtained by Bloomberg Law, as well as a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss the internal developments.<br>The letter was sent just days after former CFPB acting Director Russell Vought, a fierce critic of the federal-backed community lending program, stepped down from his post<br>The agency also ended an investigation of at least one other loan fund, the person said.<br>The lenders were among a handful of entities backed by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund that had received CFPB “supervisory questionnaires,” Bloomberg Law reported in May.<br>The Vought-led probe came as the White House attempted to slash the CDFI Fund, which is housed in the Treasury Department and has broad bipartisan support. The CDFI Fund provides grants and technical assistance to certified small banks, credit unions, and independent loan funds, especially in underserved urban and rural communities.<br>The Self-Help Ventures Fund declined to comment. The CFPB didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.<br>Vought has been a longtime critic of CDFIs, telling the Senate Banking Committee at a hearing last month that the Treasury program has supported a “woke” ideology. Vought’s term as the CFPB’s acting director ended Aug. 1, with Deputy Director Mark Paoletta currently serving as the agency’s temporary leader. President Donald Trump has nominated Capital One Financial Corp. executive Brian Johnson to serve as the CFPB’s full-time director.<br>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in April announced an investigation into potential “predatory practices” at CDFIs. That followed the failure of Tricolor Holdings, a subprime auto lender that had obtained a CDFI certification and was accused of carrying out predatory lending practices that affected Latino and other minority communities.<br>Bessent at the time said the department was separately working on a rule that would bar CDFI Fund-backed lenders from assisting immigrants who lack documentation.<br>The Trump administration has repeatedly received stiff pushback from Congress after attempting to slash most of the federal allocation for the CDFI Fund. Congress provided $324 million for the CDFI Fund for fiscal 2026 and Republicans are once again moving to reject Trump’s requested cuts for fiscal 2027.<br>The Self-Help Ventures Fund is a community development financial loan fund operating under the umbrella of the Durham, N.C.-based Center for Community Self-Help. The Ventures Fund manages Self-Help’s higher-risk business loans, real estate development, and home loan secondary market programs, according to its website.<br>The Ventures Fund spent more than $51 million as part of its core mission in 2024, according to a Form 990 filing for that year.<br>The Center for Community Self-Help also operates the Self-Help Credit Union and the Center for Responsible Lending, a group that’s been critical of Vought’s efforts to defang the CFPB and deregulate consumer finance markets.
Continue Reading
Learn more about Bloomberg Law or Log In to keep reading:<br>See Breaking News in Context<br>Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.<br>Learn more
Already a subscriber?<br>Log in to keep reading or access research tools and resources.<br>Log In
© 2026 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc.<br>All Rights Reserved
Sign Up For Newsletters<br>© 2026 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc.<br>All Rights Reserved<br>© 2026 Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc.<br>All Rights Reserved