He shouldn't be opening an account which has a minimum opening balance of $500, if he has that much debt for a CELLPHONE bill to a collection agency Also he is guaranteed a return of X% if he pays off that credit union loan, where stock returns aren't guaranteed. That might be a way to start. If he has 500 available he probably still could open a cash only account with Scottrade, but he probably should not!

I am trying to convince my friend to open a scottrade account. However I beleive he has 800 dollars in debt to a collection agency for a cellphone bill from his ex. Also he owes 900 dollars to a credit union for personal line of credit.

Can he still open a scottrade account? Is his credit score terrible?