The changes via Desktop Underwriter include tougher debt calculations for adjustable-rate loans and a complete removal of interest-only loan options.

Consumer advocate Mike Calhoun questioned if lenders will offer non-QMs at all, due to the liability posed by such originations and their designation as “less safe” mortgages.

According to Alice Alvey of Indecomm Mortgage U, “many shops are reassessing originator comp plans for January 2014 to adjust to the changing margins and seize the opportunity to blame it on the change in the law."

PennyMac is showing that it's hungry for mortgage servicing deals.

In its successful civil suit against Bank of America, DOJ estimated that the two GSEs lost $850 million from thousands of loans acquired through Countrywide's “Hustle” program.

Buyback resolutions declined by 28 percent from the second quarter, even as the government-sponsored enterprises wrapped up large-scale settlements with a handful of their largest sellers.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued $67.7 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities during the month of October, a 13.8 percent decline from September but a 4.6 percent rise for the first 10 months of 2013, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. October’s decline was less steep than September’s 20.0 percent month-to-month fall off in MBS.Top-ranked Wells Fargo’s Fannie and Freddie securitization at $11.6 billion fell both on monthly and year-to-date bases by 27.0 percent and 23.3 percent respectively. [Includes one data chart.]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency spent the last two weeks racking up several legal settlements in its massive litigation action against some of the nation’s financial institutions. Look for more to come predict industry analysts. On Oct. 25, JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay $4.0 billon to settle claims on $33.8 billion of non-agency mortgage-backed securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The bipartisan Senate blueprint for secondary mortgage market reform includes several key provisions designed to facilitate small-lender access when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer around.

The mortgage slowdown will separate the men from the boys, the girls from the ladies. It's time to fire all underperforming loan officers, says mortgage consultant David Lykken.