Closely read the agreement you sign. I've seen brokers who litigate any unsecured and I've seen a few walk away from small unsecured. Seen houses that now want to run credit checks for futures and they outline it in their agreements.
Then avoid them like the pest. Make sure they go out of business. This is unheard of. I am not asking my broker to extend credit to me so my broker has zero business in accessing my credit score. My broker should be in the business of executions and managing risk of margin portfolios. That is what they get paid for and how they price their services. Friggin used car salesmen Edit: I don't mind if a broker introduces a separate service for those without margin loan requirements and hence pricing commission and other services accordingly. But those vultures want the cake and eat it too. Not with my assets.
This is possibly why I was advised not to sign. I still feel this is what margin rates are all about. If they agreed to stress PM at 10% then that's the risk they're willing to accept. Too much? Increase my rate and see if I'm content to stay (because I will likely shop around). Having me sign an additional "guarantee" is a shady end run that, for me, raised lots of unanswered questions and made me question their integrity. The brokerage I was dealing with was Schwab.
What "guarantee" are you talking about? I have been with Schwab for over 20 years. I don't remember having to sign any additional "guarantee" for my margin accounts? I am going to call them today and ask.