A HELOC is an abbreviation for a Home Equity Line Of Credit. This is a loan where a lender agrees to lend a borrower a maximum amount within an agreed time period. It’s different than a standard loan or a reverse mortgage because the sum isn’t given to a borrower up front, but uses the loan as a line of credit to borrow smaller sums that don’t total more than the agreed upon amount.

If your HELOC does get frozen the first step to take is to find out why. The reasons can range from local home price declines to your credit being seen as negative. Once you know you can try to appeal to your bank to get the funds unfrozen. If that doesn’t work you can also ask for a lower line of credit.

If the reason is due to home prices dropping in your area, you can ask a realtor to check the prices of homes sold within a three mile radius of yours in the past six months. This can help prove your neighborhood hasn’t been affected by lowering prices. You can also have your house reappraised or ask the mortgage originator to intervene.

Finally, don’t forget to shop around. Just because your original HELOC has been frozen doesn’t mean you won’t qualify somewhere else. Generally, if you have at least 10% equity in your home there are places that will approve you.