PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. -- Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan company, is decreasing its home equity lines of credit, affecting some homeowners along the Central Coast.

Washington Mutual sent letters out last week notifying homeowners about a reduction in their credit limit based on new appraisals of their homes, and now one Central Coast family is left in the dark.

Construction crews were absent at George and Kirsten Matsumoto's Pacific Grove home Wednesday morning.

The Matsumotos said they are unable to pay the workers because Washington Mutual decreased their home equity line of credit from $150,000 to $50,000.

"So all of a sudden, we had no money to finish this house," said Kirsten Matsumoto. "If it is in the document, it's in really fine print because there was no forewarning, no notice, just retroactively five days ago, we cut off your money."

Washington Mutual has mailed the letters to homeowners nationwide, with homeowners in California and Florida seeing the largest reductions because of sharp declines in property values.

"No one ever thought about their home values going down," said financial planner Lynda Johnson. "They only thought about them going up. So even if they read the fine print, they didn't pay any attention to that. They didn't think it would ever be appropriate."

Johnson said the Matsumotos did the right thing in applying for an equity line of credit, since they used that money to add value to their home. What the family and others across the country didn't see was the downturn in the housing and credit markets.

"We're stuck in a very difficult situation, as many other people around the country," said George Matsumoto. "I find it a bit ironic that if you look at WaMu's Web site, the equity line of credit advertising, their motto is 'It's there when you need it.' Well, we need it and it's not there anymore."

A Washington Mutual spokesperson said customers can appeal the changes in their credit lines. The appraisals were done electronically, but customers can request to have their homes reappraised by an actual person.

Homeowners will, however, be responsible for paying for the new appraisal.

Washington Mutual does state in its home equity line of credit application and contract that the bank has the right to increase, decrease or suspend credit based on several criteria. One of those criteria is a decline in the property value of the home.