Managing money: Learning to navigate today's credit landscape

Corinne Aagard's been a happy credit card customer for a long time, so she was a bit dismayed to learn — while her husband was filling the gas tank — that her card had been canceled. No warning and plenty of embarrassment is how she describes what happened.

"It's something I'm quite upset about," she said. "And it shows as derogatory against my credit score."

Her sister Jacquelyn Beck's experience with the same credit card company was a little different, but no more satisfying. After years with the company — years in which she's diligently guarded her high credit score — she found when she went into the account online that her credit limit had been cut by more than half. She didn't get even the courtesy of a letter from the company informing her, she said.

Not long ago, getting credit of almost any kind was nearly as easy as signing your name. The average person could obtain a new credit card or mortgage with virtually any kind of credit history, or little history at all.

Those days are gone, likely forever, experts say. In the wake of the economic turmoil caused by the mortgage meltdown, a credit crisis was born. Now getting a credit card or mortgage is harder than it's been for decades, and analysts warn it will probably remain that way for the foreseeable future.

"You're going to see more downturn in consumer credit in the next 12 to 18 months," said Al Bingham, a senior loan officer with National City Mortgage who does pro bono work as a credit expert. "If you're going to get past this (credit crisis), you're going to have to have a stellar credit rating."

Higher rates, higher fees

Even an excellent rating won't prevent reductions in credit line, raised interest rates and other changes to a credit agreement. Those who have less-than-excellent credit will suffer economically as credit providers charge higher fees, Bingham said. That will translate into higher interest rates for some and reduced availability of credit for others.

Some consumers say credit card companies, in particular, are raising rates simply because they can — and at a time when some have received hefty taxpayer help and the interest they pay for money is relatively cheap.