House Maintenance Requirement

The house maintenance requirement is the minimum margin account equity required by a brokerage firm based on Regulation T and the firm’s discretion. The house maintenance requirement will often be higher than the maintenance margin set out by the Federal Reserve’s Regulation T, which stipulates that an equity level of at least 25% must be maintained. A brokerage may also set different maintenance requirements for different account holders at the firm. A 30% house maintenance requirement is typical and 40% is not unusual. While stocks are the security most commonly purchased in a margin account, many other securities such as mutual funds Treasuries, corporate bonds and options may be purchased on margin subject to varying purchase and maintenance requirements.