Paying off a debt does not change one's credit score all that much. Credit score is affected by payment history. So if your payment history on the debt was not that good, you'll have a credit score that's not that good. Paying it off doesn't change the history, and doesn't improve the score by all that much. The history is still there and will remain there for the next 3 to 7 years, depending on what the debt was.
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