Your 10-Point Credit Checkup

Can you still count on the credit you thought you had? It's a fair question for everyone in this economy, including people who pride themselves on never missing a payment.

Since early this year, lenders have been cutting back on the credit lines they had previously approved for home-equity lines of credit and for credit cards. I checked with several industry experts this week to find answers to your questions about credit.

Q Can I count on my home-equity line of credit being available when I need it?

AMaybe. Banks were still reining in existing lines of credit last summer, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey released early this month. Between July and the end of September, about 20 percent of banks reduced credit limits for accounts held by borrowers who had prime credit ratings. About 60 percent shrank credit limits for their subprime customers. And that was before the worst of the financial crisis hit in October; the Fed won't report those numbers until early next year. Your risk of a cutback is highest if home values are dropping sharply in your community.

I pay my bills on time. Why did the bank lower the credit line available on my Visa, MasterCard and American Express?

That same Fed study showed that about 20 percent of banks lowered credit card limits on prime borrowers. About 60 percent lowered credit limits for their subprime customers. They blamed some of the cutbacks on borrowers' deteriorating credit scores or on their history of missed payments. But some of it was simply a result of banks shying away from the risk of lending money all together.

If the bank reduces the credit line available to me, will that damage my credit score?

It might, if you don't also reduce your borrowing, said Tom Quinn, vice president of global scoring for Fair Isaac. That's the firm that takes credit reports on file with major credit bureaus and applies its own secret recipe to cook up FICO scores that range between 500 and 850. The higher your score, the more credit and lower interest rates you can expect.

FICO likes to see people who are approved for lots of credit, but who keep their borrowing in check. Quinn said lenders' cuts in credit lines seem to be modest, and will have only a modest effect on scores overall. "For certain individual consumers, that impact on scores can be greater," he said.

If the bank shrinks your credit line, try to reduce your borrowing by a comparable amount or it may damage your scores and raise your borrowing costs.

I've put my credit cards away in a drawer so I won't be tempted to use them. Will that hurt my credit score?

Not unless you go on an extreme no-credit diet for the long term. "It might drop a little bit, but nothing to worry about," Quinn said. Don't close the accounts, though. Reducing the amount of credit available to you could damage your scores.