When an investor makes 4 or more Day Trades in 5 consecutive business days, the account will be coded as a Pattern Day Trader (PDT). When an account is coded as a Pattern Day Trader, total account equity must be maintained at above $25,000 in order to day trade. If the equity falls below $25,000, Equity Maintenance Call (EM Call) will be issued in the amount that equals to the difference between $25,000 and the account equity.
While the EM call is outstanding (account remains below $25,000), no day-trading will be allowed. A PDT who chose to still force in day-trading will result in Day Trading Margin Call (DT Call) and 90 Days Restriction (90DR) of liquidating-transactions only.
To close out the outstanding calls and lift the restriction, the account must accomplish one of the below solutions:
Covering the greater of the DT or EM call amount will lift the 90 day restriction.
Covering the DT call amount and removing the PDT status (allowed one time only by completing the PDT Status Termination Form) will lift the 90 day restriction.
Otherwise, the account needs to serve the 90 days period. After which, the outstanding DT call will expire, and a request to lift the account restriction can be submitted and processed. However, the EM Call will remain on the account until satisfied, or PDT status is lifted. It is important to note that an EM Call on a PDT account means no Day Trading capability.