Your debit balance and margin interest rates

Your Debit Balance and Margin Interest Rates

Paying off a debit balance
Except for the addition of daily interest charges, posted monthly, your debit balance does not change from the amount loaned to you when you originally bought the stock. Specifically the rise or fall of your current market value will not affect your debit balance. However, it will affect your account equity.

To reduce or pay off your debit balance you have to bring funds into your account in either or both of two ways:

Deposit funds directly into your account
Sell securities in your account. The proceeds will first be used to pay off your debit balance and then you will receive whatever is left over.