A debt settlement program will not prevent you from getting credit in the future. Certainly it will damage your credit in the short run, but in approximately 18 months after you are you are out of debt, your FICO score should be back to where it was prior to the program, and you will be able to get credit. The real question to ask yourself, however, is whether or not you really want to get credit. After all, the purpose of debt settlement is to get you out of debt—not into it.