Answer: -If the creditor has turned your account over to a collection agency, then you must pay the collection agency. Any time you pay off a debt it will help your credit score. The sooner you can pay it off, the better also. -I highly recommend you chat with suze orman or look this up on her web site she is a financial advisor who also has a show on msnbc. It wont improve your score as soon as you make a payment on it the seven years start over. -Paying them won't help your credit score because they've already reported you in collections. If they're listed as an open account on your credit report then yes, paying them will boost your score but only so much...When you're trying to rebuild your credit score it's important to get a comprehensive view of what is actually effecting it...Your Credit Score is calculated with the following breakdown:35% - Payment History30% - Credit to Debt Ratio15% - Credit History10% - New Credit10% - Credit Types in UseIf you excel in one area and lack in another, only fixing the areas which you lack are going to improve your score.I've got a lot of information on my blog about credit scores, and I get a lot of questions so feel free to check out any of my posts on millionster.com; I believe my articles here address many of your concerns but if they don't and you still have any specific questions feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply.