Why You Need To Stop Abbreviating 2020 When You Sign Anything Important

A new year brings a lot of change — one of the biggest and most obvious being that you have to sign everything with a new year. Yup, it’s not 2019 anymore, you have to remember to sign everything 2020. Here’s the thing, a lot of people are spreading the word that it’s important to not abbreviate 2020 whenever you sign anything important this year. Per Dustry Rhodes the Hamilton County Ohio, auditor:

When writing the date in 2020, write the year in its entirety. It could possibly protect you and prevent legal issues on paperwork. Example: If you just write 1/1/20, one could easily change it to 1/1/2017 (for instance) and now your signature is on an incorrect document.

— Dusty Rhodes (@AuditorRhodes) December 31, 2019

The big takeaway here is that by abbreviating you could open yourself up to fraud. Here’s the concern — that if you simply sign something “1/1/20” it could be changed to “1/1/2000” or “1/1/2021” easily by fraudsters. By doing that, scammers can potentially establish an unpaid debt or try to cash an old check.

The executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates Ira Rheingold told USA Today: “Say you agreed to make payments beginning on 1/15/20. The bad guy could theoretically establish that you began owing your obligation on 1/15/2019, and try to collect additional $$$.” Post-dating, he says, could also be a problem, making an uncashed check active again.

What should we all do? It’s really quite simple: write out the full date. While you’re at it, write out the month.

Police have also said this is a good idea.

“This is very sound advice and should be considered when signing any legal or professional document. It could potentially save you some trouble down the road,” The East Millinocket Police Department in Maine said in a Facebook post.

Feature Image: Twenty20