if you only have 2 things on your credit, in collections, plus about 7 medical bills adding up to a total of $1600(for every thing on the credit)?
this isn't on my credit, but my friends, and his score is not too bad, its 575
and also if he pays it straight out, how will it appear on his credit, will, if he asks, they put something in the report saying it was paid off, and will his score go up by doing this?

[Qtip]

With no additional information, advise in this situation is difficult. Paying down debt on active credit cards will increase and boost your friends credit file, as long as "he or she" does not charge over 30 percent of the available credit on any of the cards.

As far as collections, depending on the age of the collection and who has it, I think that a consumer is better off requesting validation and disputing the alleged debt. Many times this accounts get sold or passed around and there might be a listing on your file from a collection agency that no longer has the alleged debt. In this case if you dispute this alleged debt, the Credit Reporting agency will remove it , provided the Collection Agency does not verify the information.