FORT MYERS, Fla. - Creditors are cancelling cards, dropping open credit lines and slashing limits no matter how good the credit score, and if it happens to you it could have an impact on your current credit score.

"I still get a statement every month, I just can't use it," said Kendra Sutton who had her home equity line suspended.

David Lombardi's Target credit card was suddenly shut down as well.

"They just said it had been closed for non-use," said Lombardi.

Sara Dent got a shock when her American Express card suddenly had a much lower limit.

"We've been a loyal person to them for 10 years... I've had this account... and they do this," said Dent.

Dent and her husband have their house paid off, have credit credit scores and always pay on time but it didn't stop American Express from lowering their limit to just over what is owed on the card.

Sutton planned to use her open home equity line to start a business, until Wells Fargo suspended it.

"Pretty much what leverage do you have as a mortgagee? You really don't in my opinion," said Sutton.

With the economy in recession, banking experts said these situations can happen to anyone.

"Credit card issuers are much quicker to cut back credit lines, close out unused credit cards or even raise interest rates on consumers who haven't made any late payments," said Greg McBride from Bankrate, Inc., an online aggregator of financial information.

"Care issuers are now on defense, they're trying to protect themselves against further default," added McBride who said these situations can hurt your credit score.

About 30-percent of your credit score is the amount of debt you use, relative to your available credit. If you suddenly have less available credit, because a card or line of credit is shut down, then it looks like you're using more of your available credit.

It's something Sutton wasn't worried about in the past.

"I guess I wouldn't think about asking about that because my credit score is good," said Sutton.

If this happens to you, McBride said there are some things you can do if your credit score is good and you want to keep in intact.
- First, try to appeal the decision to the bank or the cardholder.
- Secondly, if you still have debt you should pay it down. "You can create a bigger buffer between the amount you owe and your line of credit," said McBride.
- Lastly, if you are something that pays off your complete balance every month start using your cards less.

"If a card issuer cuts back your available credit you have to be very careful about using too much of your available debt and impacting your credit score in the short term," said McBride.

The advice is something that the Dents were already doing, now they aren't sure if they'll even keep a credit card.

"We are cutting all of our credit cards down, and that was the one we were going to keep open. That's not the one we're going to keep open any longer," said Dent.