Not necessarily, but don’t let that stop you from taking steps to lower your debt.When determining credit health, the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) emphasizes your payment history, which represents 35% of an entire credit score. Meanwhile, 30% of that score is your credit utilization, or what you owe vs. how much credit you have.Even if you pay everything on time, your credit score could suffer if you’ve maxed out your credit cards  (which could be the case with a lot of debt). Use no more than 30% of all credit to build your credit score. For example, if your total credit is $5,000, keep your debt below $1,500.