settlement showing as CO

You should contact your credit card company and ask them to update the account status in your credit report. If you've settled the debt with them, then they should report it as "paid as settled" and not as charged off.

Hi!
Welcome to the Forums!

Do you have the copy of the contract with you? Do you have copy of the money order or check? You'll need them to prove that you have paid the agreed amount. Enclose these documents with the letter (for updating the account status) you send to the credit bureaus.

The only one a settlement benefits is you. Thus any settlement will be negative on your credit report as you are not paying as a agreed or the full amount. They effectively charge off or wrote off the unpaid portion.

Paying a debt, either in full or by way of a settlement, never acts to erase any derogs reported on the account. They remain unless deleted by the creditor or debt collector.
Additionally, your FICO score will not improve based on payment of a debt. FICO does not care whether the debt remains unpaid, is settled, or paid in full. It scores the derogs incurred on the account.
When you settle a debt, either by a payment in full, or by their acceptance of less than the full amount as settlement of the debt, they must update the current status of the account to one thing only....Paid. Current status does not record how it was paid.
The fact that it was settled for less than the full amount is stored in a different field of your CR called "Special Comments."

If the debt was charged-off (or in collection) prior to settling the debt, the current status should read "paid" and the prior charge-off status is retained in another field of your credit report called the "Payment Rating." That stays in your credit file, and is viewable by those reviewing your CR.

Olds acts are almost always retained in some field of your CR.

Lian - curious how you know that inquiries only affect your credit score for the first year? As far as I can tell, the CRA's don't specifically tell people their secret sauce behind their 'proprietary' scores.

Thanks in advance.