Debt Collectors; And what you can do to Get Them Out of your Life
FTC opinion letter on validation Section 809(a) of the FDCPA, 15 U.S.C. 1692g(a)This will be a pretty long lesson and will cover an integral part of validation which is the receipt of the initial or first contact with the debtor by a collector which usually gets thrown in the trash can if the ... more...

A Closer Look at Cyber Crooks
I work from my home, the most peaceful workplace I can think of so far. As a Homemaker and part time Freelance Writer, I submit articles and subscribe to various respectable writing newsletters and do endless research online. But before signing up, I read privacy policies, some brief while others ... more...

Flowering Cherries
Flowering cherries While the briefness of their glory has to be acknowledged, cherries really are the hardy spring-flowering trees for temperate climate gardens. I can think of no others, apart from their close Prunus relatives and some of the magnolias that even come close to rivalling ... more...

Sanity Check - Buying A Business
In the business broker community there is a review process that helps a buyer determine if a business purchase makes sense or not. This check can be done by a Fortune 500 company where everything is figured down to the penny and takes 1000 hours of research or it can be done by a small main street ... more...

The Economy's Greatest Depression Downturn Ever Is Now Just A Few Years Away
What really controls the economy? Forget interest rates, forget deficits, forget the Fed, forget IRAQ, forget which party is in office. In fact, forget just about everything that permeates the news. The greatest force that has controlled the long-term trend of the economy for at least the last ... more...

Ten Equipment Leasing Tips - Save a Bundle on Your Next Lease
According to the Equipment Leasing Association (ELA), U.S. businesses lease every thing from laptop computers to commercial airplanes, racking up more than $ 200 billion in equipment leased each year. Although four out of five U.S. companies use leasing to acquire equipment, many dont know the ins ... more...

Where Did All The Farmers Go?
Several times a year, I hear someone complain about the development of farm land in our area. These complainers consider it a crime that so much of our farm land has been converted to housing, business, shopping, etc. They seem to consider the farmers and developers to be criminals.If you want to ... more...

What is Tax-Deferred Exchange?
Under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, owners of real estate held for investment or use in a trade or business can swap their property tax-free for "like-kind" real estate. Exchanges are made for people wanting to stay invested in real estate, increase their leverage and to avoid paying ... more...

A Fragile Lifeline: Lessons I Learned Answering The Aids Hotline
Dial 1-800/AIDSNYCEvery Monday and Wednesday morning, promptly at 10 a.m., I leave behind my daily life and turn to volunteering as an AIDS Hotline counselor at New York Citys GMHC [Gay Mens Health Crisis], the nations largest social service agency for AIDS.For the next four hours, my ... more...