Want a lender to delay or even cancel your mortgage closing? Then change your “borrower circumstances” between the day you apply for and the day you close a home loan.

Lenders have gotten stricter in response to the mortgage meltdown. The latest tightening of the screws comes from Fannie Mae. The mortgage titan’s Loan Quality Initiative, which went into effect June 1, requires lenders to track “changes in borrower circumstances” between application and closing.