What will happen if CALL OPTION expire IN-THE-MONEY without sufficient funds?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: wonderful world Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/126870 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. Suppose a novice trader opens an online account with $5,000 with online trading platforms like e*trade, Ameritrade or Robinhood. With the stock at $175, the trader buys 2 call options: Option Price: $20 Strike Price: $200 Expiry: 6 Months from now Cost: $4,000 On the last day of trading, the stock is $215 and the $200 call is in-the-money. The trader is not available to close the option. I assume that he now owns 200 shares of that stock which costs $40,000. Questions: His account has only $5,000. What will happen if he does not have $40,000 to buy those stocks? Does a margin account allow him to buy the stock and then sell in a few days when he is available, realizing his profit? Do online brokers like e*trade or Ameritrade permit closing the option for whatever price a day before the expiration? I think this option can protect him from owning the stocks.