Home equity loans have been helping homeowners for years as a way of cheap financing for other expenses. A HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) can be used for home repairs, improvements, or can be used to pay off other debts and bills. It also comes in handy as a source of emergency credit in a bad situation.Nowadays though, HELOC loans are hurting homeowners all over the country. The bad housing market, has led to a severe drop in home values, and a rise in the amount of delinquent mortgages. As a result, many mortgage lenders and banks have severely limited, or in some cases, halted, approval of home equity lines of credit. With most HELOC loans being denied, many homeowners are facing problems now that they do not have a huge loan, backed by their home, to fall back on. This is further ruining a lot of homeowners financial position, and halting progress in the housing market.While mortgage lenders and banks have primarily targeted homes and locations which have suffered the most in terms of dropping home values, these are often where the most struggling homeowners live.Are you concerned about not being able to get a HELOC? Do you know if your considered to risky for a mortgage lender?Just a few years ago, mortgage lenders and banks were approving home equity lines of credit for nearly everyone. The housing market was booming, and it seemed to be a low risk, high reward investment. Nowadays though, lenders and banks are struggling themselves, and are desperately trying to scale back the amount of HELOC approvals. When a lender or bank has to foreclose on a home which has an outstanding HELOC loan, there is a good potential for a loss of money. By reducing, or in many cases, stopping all home equity loans, the risks are minimized for the lender and banks. This way, banks can provide a little more assurance that a homeowner will not be able to afford their home loan due to a loan, and lose it to foreclosure. On top of all of this, mortgage lenders and banks typically do not make much profit on a HELOC loan to begin with.While getting a home equity line of credit is not impossible, it is much harder to do right now. The housing market is bad, and homeowners are struggling. Until this changes, getting a HELOC will remain a difficult, but not impossible, process.