what is a house call 
a house call is a demand by a brokerage firm that an account holder deposit enough cash to cover a shortfall in the amount of money deposited in a margin account this typically follows losses in the investments bought on margin the call is made when the account balance has fallen below the maintenance margin required by the brokerage firm if the client fails to make up the shortfall in the time specified by the house the account holder s positions will be liquidated without further notice until the minimum requirement is satisfied understanding house callsthe house call is a type of margin call investors who buy assets using money borrowed from the brokerage firm or on margin are required by the brokerage to retain a minimum amount of cash or securities on deposit to offset losses 1buying on margin is used by investors who hope to multiply their returns by multiplying the number of shares they buy they borrow money from the house in order to achieve that goal if they succeed and the price of the shares increases they repay the loan and pocket the rest as profit if they fail and the price of the shares falls they owe the house if they owe more than they have deposited in reserve they must make up the difference a house call goes out if the investment falls in value below the amount of the required deposit the investor can cover the shortfall by depositing more cash or selling other assets in the account 