“Life is like a roll of toilet paper: The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.” Just like that, 2025 is half over. With it have come changes at the GSEs, government loan programs, and the compliance landscape. In his latest edition of Mortgage Musings, Attorney Brian Levy offers insights on the trigger lead bill(s) and the challenges faced by DC trade association lobbyists in the current environment. (Sign up here for a free subscription to Levy’s Mortgage Musings.) Certainly there have been changes in the servicing landscape, and STRATMOR’s Advisory Angle today at 11AM PT is, “The Strategic Power of Servicing: Turning Cost into Competitive Advantage” featuring Michael Grad, Mike Seminari, and Garth Graham. “Servicing has emerged as a strategic growth driver for mortgage lenders navigating a challenging 2025 market. From increasing regulatory scrutiny to rising borrower expectations and compressed margins, the conversation explores why servicing can no longer be treated as a cost center, and how the smartest lenders are using it to build loyalty, drive recapture, and create operational leverage.” (Today’s podcast can be found here and this week’s is sponsored by Figure, which is shaking up the lending world with their five-day HELOC, offering borrower approvals in as little as five minutes and funding in five days. Figure has hundreds of partners in the banking, CU, home improvement, and (of course) IMB space embedding their technology, giving borrowers an experience they will rave about. Today’s has an interview with Bank United’s Chris Huang on trends that capital providers are seeing in mortgage originators and what to look for in bank partners or warehouse line counterparties.)