Many buyers of homes are familiar with HELOCS or Home Equity Lines of Credit. This has been a convenient way for homeowners with equity to borrow money against their homes for vacations, college expenses, home improvements, second homes, or just unexpected expenses. This convenient home ATM is going into "shut down mode" with the following big banks sending "freeze" letters out due to falling home prices in many areas of the country. Here is a list of some of the larger banks implementing this policy:

Countrywide

Bank of America - HELOC Freeze

Countrywide - HELOC Freeze

Chase - HELOC Freezes

CitiGroup - HELOC Freeze under review

National City - HELOC Freeze

Suntrust - HELOC Freeze

USAA Federal Savings - HELOC Feeeze

Washington Mutual - HELOC Freeze

The credit crunch is on and the impacts of this will be severe for many home sellers in our area. Our home values have not fallen as far as many parts of the country but this inconvenience will impact many second home buyers.