Recently over 10,000 homeowners have had their HELOC (home-equity line of credit) stopped. Lenders are doing this to try and bank suprime mortgage and high loan losses.

Based on figures from Economy.com, since September the rate of HELOC delinquencies was up 47%, something already expected to worsen in 2008.

Many lenders are now taking steps to prevent the damage of future expected loss by freezing or reducing their HELOC´s already in place. Countrywide has done so with over 122,000 lines and USAA with 15,000. The Bank of America, Chase, and Citibank are looking into the procedure as well.

If your HELOC has not yet been frozen, here is some advice. First, know your risk. Susan McHan, the president of Opes Advisors, has said that areas where housing prices have fallen by 10% or more are prime targets for freezes. Homes bought in the last couple of years, with little cash down, could also be potential HELOC problem targets. Lenders are also starting to apply set standards to all HELOC customers, so it might be a wise idea to get in touch with your bank and find out what the new HELOC cap is. If your debt amount is above that you could be at risk. Other possible risk factors is if your credit score has changed or you have missed a payment.

A second good piece of advice is to get your cash now, but it does have a downside. You can request a lump sum, but it would cut your equity and make you owe interest now which might mean your loan value could overcome the home value if market prices keep lowering. Therefore, only borrow what you need and put the rest in a CD or a high-yield savings account until payment of the bills are needed.