A HELOC freeze occurs when a lender cancels, limits, or suspends the borrower’s access to the credit line. If your HELOC is frozen, you won’t be able to access your credit, or your credit line may be reduced. Your lender might freeze your HELOC for one of these reasons: Your home value has fallen (this happened to many homeowners during the Great Recession when property values plummeted throughout the country). The lender has reason to believe that you won’t be able to make your payments, perhaps because you are behind or because of a job loss. Your credit rating has dropped significantly. In addition, if the lender finds that you were not truthful on your HELOC application, your account might be frozen. You may be able to contest a HELOC freeze for any reason if the lender’s concerns are not justified.