how can you avoid a margin call 
the best way to avoid a margin call is to keep a significant cash cushion in the margin account and also to monitor the account regularly to see how close you are to slipping below your brokerage firm s maintenance margin percentage you can also avoid a margin call of course if you simply maintain a cash account and don t buy on margin the bottom linea debit balance is the amount of money a brokerage customer owes their broker for securities purchases they have made on margin if the debit balance gets too high relative to the equity in the account the investor may be subject to a margin call for that reason investors with margin accounts should regularly check how much equity they have in their accounts and be prepared to come up with additional cash if they need to 