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Organize your receipts-do people really do that?  As a professional organizer, let me ask you, where are your receipts?  Stuffed in your purse?  Stuffed in your wallet?  In the car maybe?  How about shoved in drawers or perhaps used as a bookmark?  I could go on and on!  Receipts, ahhh, such small pieces of paper that so easily turn into overwhelming piles.

I thought I’d share a few very simple solutions to help you get control of those pesky pieces of paper. Here’s how you organize your reciepts:

• Look at what’s on your receipt, why are you keeping it?   If it’s a cash purchase for a pack of gum, do ya really need that?  Why?
• Keep labeled envelopes at home for your credit cards.  Every time you make a purchase with your credit card, put the receipt in the right envelope.  When the statement comes, you can take them out and double check that all transactions are correct.
• Shred receipts you no longer need.
• Keep a file for current taxes in your filing cabinet.  Inside that file keep an envelope for any charitable donation receipts.
• Have a schedule to clean receipts out of wallets and purses like every day or once a week.  I like to get mine out of my purse every day or they quickly get out of control.
  Take the time to organize your receipts so you won’t have to go hunting if you have a return for the store, a discrepancy on an account statement or when tax time rolls around!

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A validation of debt is a request for proof that the collection agency that is contacting you owns the debt/or has been assigned the right to collect the debt on behalf of an original creditor. A validation of debt also includes a complete payment history, starting with the original creditor, and a copy of the original signed loan agreement or credit card application. This may be a debt you really owe or possibly a debt that was sent to collections by mistake. Either way, debt collectors can be very unapproachable. It is important to remember that you also have rights. According to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Paragraph 809, – Validation of Debts, you have the right to request proof of any debt being collected.

Debt validation can also be a very useful tool when used in conjunction with a debt reduction program. Often, eventhough a debt may have belonged to you, the collection agency lacks the ability to show required proof of the debt, and therefore has no legal right to collect.

Once you have requested that a debt be validated, the collector must, within five days after the initial communication with a consumer in connection with the collection of any debt, a debt collector shall, unless the following information is contained in the initial communication or the consumer has paid the debt, send the consumer a written notice containing:

(1) the amount of the debt;

(2) the name of the creditor to whom the debt is owed;

(3) a statement that unless the consumer, within thirty days after receipt of the notice, disputes the validity of the debt, or any portion thereof, the debt will be assumed to be valid by the debt collector;

(4) a statement that if the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, the debt collector will obtain verification of the debt or a copy of a judgment against the consumer and a copy of such verification or judgment will be mailed to the consumer by the debt collector; and

(5) a statement that, upon the consumer’s written request within the thirty-day period, the debt collector will provide the consumer with the name and address of the original creditor, if different from the current creditor.

(b) If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within the thirty-day period described in subsection (a) that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt, or any disputed portion thereof, until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of a judgment, or the name and address of the original creditor, and a copy of such verification or judgment, or name and address of the original creditor, is mailed to the consumer by the debt collector.
(c) The failure of a consumer to dispute the validity of a debt under this section may not be construed by any court as an admission of liability by the consumer.

The information presented in this article only covers some of the more important aspects of debt validation. It is important to do your research and fully understand your rights and obligations prior to attempting any type of communication with a debt collector.