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Mark McArdle, who left the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) in February, will lead regulatory and public policy efforts at Newrez, the multichannel mortgage lender owned by Rithm Capital.
The announcement, made on Thursday, comes amid a court battle to decide the future of the CFPB’s mass workforce reduction announced on April 17. That action would cut the bureau’s headcount from 1,700 to as few as 200 employees.
On Monday, a U.S. appeals court restored a temporary block on the mass layoffs, allowing employees to keep their jobs for the time being.
HousingWire exclusively reported that the cuts would reduce some mortgage-focused divisions to a handful of staffers or less. According to attorneys and mortgage compliance experts, this would push regulatory burdens onto the states.
Industry veteran McArdle has 20 years of experience working in nonprofits and government. He was the assistant director of mortgage markets at the CFPB from 2017 to 2025. In this position, he was responsible for modernizing Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting, updating the ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage rules, and leading efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At Newrez, he was hired for a newly created role as senior vice president of regulatory relations, public policy and stakeholder engagement. He will partner with stakeholders to lead initiatives to shape mortgage policy.
“His appointment reflects our commitment to ‘caring fiercely’ for our homeowners and responsible participation in the markets,” Baron Silverstein, president of Newrez, said in a statement.
“Mark’s track record of delivering thoughtful, effective policy solutions and fostering deep stakeholder relationships makes him an ideal leader to drive Newrez’s policy engagement efforts in our next chapter of growth.”
According to Inside Mortgage Finance, Newrez was the fourth-largest U.S. mortgage lender in the first quarter of 2025 with $12 billion in production. That was up about 12% from the same period last year.
The lender continued to rely heavily on the correspondent channel and saw its gain-on-sale margin improve to 1.37% in the first quarter of 2025.
