Financial institutions reported a major increase in home-equity line-of-credit lending over the past year, while also squeezing a bit more fee income from these relationships, according to an annual study by the Consumer Bankers Association. The dollar volume of home equity commitments rose sharply this year, with new activity equaling 54 percent of existing portfolios, the CBA reports. With an average runoff rate of 23 percent, that left actual growth in portfolio commitments of