A home equity line may remain open after its balance has been paid down. Before selling, confirm the payoff and closure instructions with the servicer and the release requirements with the title company.
Closing an open HELOC during a sale
Yes, you can sell with a line still open, and it is handled at closing the way a mortgage is handled. The CFPB's home equity line of credit booklet states that if you sell your home you are "generally required to pay off your HELOC in full immediately." The part that catches people is that a zero balance does not make it disappear.
The line is secured by the house, so it is a recorded claim on the title until it is paid off, closed, and released, and that takes a payoff statement and a release just like a first mortgage.
Why it is a lien even at a zero balance
The CFPB describes a home equity line of credit as credit secured by your home as collateral, and warns that "If you fall behind or can't repay the loan on schedule, you could lose your home." Where there is already a first mortgage, the CFPB treats these as second mortgages "that you'd need to pay in addition to your first mortgage." A recorded second mortgage is a claim against the title regardless of what is drawn against it today, because tomorrow something could be. Confirm how the open line will be closed and released even when its current balance is zero.
The payoff statement, and the seven business day rule
There is a federal rule with a hard number in it, and it is useful to know when a request has gone quiet. Under 12 CFR 1026.36(c)(3) a creditor, assignee or servicer "must provide an accurate statement of the total outstanding balance" needed to pay the obligation in full, within a reasonable time after a written request, "but in no case more than seven business days." The rule makes a point of covering these lines: the broader section generally does not apply to a home equity line under 1026.40, but the regulation says "paragraph (c)(3) applies to such credit when secured by a dwelling."
There are exceptions where a reasonable time replaces the seven days, including bankruptcy, foreclosure, a reverse or shared appreciation mortgage, and natural disasters or similar circumstances. Absent one of those, seven business days is the outside limit, and the request has to be in writing to start the clock.
The draw that lands after the figure is ordered
Here is the one real risk in the mechanics. A payoff figure is a snapshot of a balance that can still move, and on a revolving line it can move upward, because the line is still available. No source I read sets a rule for freezing a line during a sale, so this is a servicer question rather than a regulation, and the practical answer is to ask for it in the same written request that asks for the payoff: stop further advances and close the account at payoff.
Then stop using the card or the checks tied to it, including for the moving expenses, which is where this goes wrong.
What to ask about before you list
The CFPB's own comparison worksheet for these lines includes an "Early termination fee" and "Prepayment and other penalty fees," along with annual fees and inactivity fees, and the booklet does not say how any of them are calculated, because they vary by agreement. So those are questions for your servicer, in writing, and the answer belongs in the net sheet before you set a price, not after. Two more that come from the same booklet and matter to a long time owner: these lines "typically involve variable rather than fixed interest rates," so the interest on a balance you have not touched can change, and the payoff figure is the one to read, and at the end of the draw period there may be a balloon payment of the entire balance, which changes what staying in the house actually costs.
If you are deciding whether to draw on it before you sell
Drawing on a line before selling increases the amount to be paid from the proceeds. Review the proposed work, its cost and the likely effect on the sale before using the home as security for it.
After closing, make sure it closed
Paid off is not the same as released. Indiana has its own mechanics for getting a satisfied mortgage off the record, and a line of credit is a mortgage for that purpose, so the follow up is the same: confirm the release was recorded. That is a different note, and it is linked below.
What your line costs to close, whether a fee applies, and what your exact payoff will be come from your servicer, in writing. Whether to borrow against the house at all is a conversation for you and your lender or your financial advisor. I do not quote rates, I do not recommend lenders, and I do not estimate payoffs.
The sellers page covers the rest of that list, how you prove the old mortgage is gone is the release step after closing, and stay, change or move is where the question of whether to spend on the house at all belongs.
Sources: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, "What you should know about home equity lines of credit," read at consumerfinance.gov on October 14, 2026, for the collateral and foreclosure warning, the draw and repayment periods, the balloon payment, variable rates, the comparison worksheet's early termination and prepayment fee lines, the annual and inactivity fees, the lender's ability to freeze or reduce a line, and the statement that a sale generally requires paying the line off in full immediately. CFPB, "What is the difference between a home equity loan and a home equity line of credit," read the same day, for the second mortgage treatment and adjustable rates. 12 CFR 1026.36(c)(3), read at consumerfinance.gov on October 14, 2026, for the payoff statement requirement, the seven business day limit, the stated exceptions, and the provision applying paragraph (c)(3) to open end home equity credit secured by a dwelling.
This note is general information, not legal, tax or lending advice. Your payoff amount, your fees and your account terms come from your servicer.