House Excess

House Excess

In a margin account, the amount of cash or securities in excess of the minimum margin. The minimum margin is the collateral used for the brokerage to allow a client to buy securities with borrowed money. When a client has more than the minimum margin deposited with the brokerage at the end of a trading day, the brokerage informs him/her that he/she has a house excess. The client may use this to borrow more for margin transactions or may use it as a cushion to avoid a margin call in case the value of the client's portfolio declines.