Yes, debts to impact your scores. It is a sad reality. You improve your scores by paying off your debts faster but if you pay them off too fast, you can face charges. You want to always pay more than the minimum but scale it out so you aren't paying it off too fast. Confusing, right?
I never understood this myself. Seems like a double-edged sword for sure. No matter what, you are screwed. You don't use credit, you get punished. You use credit and do it wrong, you get punished. I have even heard of people with "perfect scores" getting screwed over for the numbers being too good.