Comment from SPIFIMAN
Time July 25, 2009 at 11:20 pm

It depends, if the accounts have already gone to collections paying them off will not improve your score at all as a matter of fact it will actually lower it because when you pay them they will become current rather then old.
The only time paying old collections will help your score is if you can get them to agree to a pay foe delete agreement, this is a simply contract that says that in return for your payment they agree to delete the account from your credit. If they do agree to this get it in writing before you pay them a dime.
If on the other hand these accounts have not been sent to collections and you pay them off your score will increase as soon as your creditors report to the bureaus the next month.
Good luck.

Comment from CreditRe
Time July 26, 2009 at 2:59 am

do not agree with riverman. All you have to do is stay current. You can get a copy of your credit reports at http://www.annualcreditreport.com and dispute false information or unworthy information on your credit report. Then attian credit cards that report to all the credit bureaus, and pay bill on time, and pay more than the minimum payment. You will probably increase your score 120 points in the first 6 months.
Hope this could be of great service!

Comment from Marsadie
Time July 26, 2009 at 5:07 am

Check out this site regarding cleaning up your credit report (and also obtaining a *free* credit report:http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-protect-my…

Comment from Riverman
Time July 26, 2009 at 6:25 am

I guess your credit score won’t improve until it can be demonstrated that ALL your debt(s) is(are) paid off.