Auctions

CNET's Net Auction Nightmares- Article reports on five auction "nightmares" and suggests how to keep them from happening to you.

National Fraud Information Center - Report online incidents online or by phone.

Scamwatch - Another useful sight which includes scam alerts and information on avoiding them.

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Automobiles

Auto Lemon Law Info - Summaries, by state, including Florida from Autopedia.com.

Edmund's Automobile Buyer's Guides - New/used car pricing and more. Since 1966, Edmund's® has been committed to providing a central source for consumer-oriented automobile information.

iCARumba - Online diagnosis of car problems.

IntelliChoice Car Center Auto Information - Info on leases, ownership costs, mileage statistics

Kelley Blue Book - Used car bluebook values and new car pricing.

LeaseGuide - Consumer leasing guide on how automobile leasing works.

N.A.D.A. Guides - New and used car prices, car buying guide.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - NHTSA site provides information about accident prevention, defect investigations, consumer complaints, recalls, safety standards, and other automobile issues.
 

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Consumer Advocacy & Protection

10-10 Phone Rates - Compare 10-10 phone rates of business and local toll plans. Rates included for international, interstate and local calling plans.

Better Business Bureau - Promotes fairness and integrity in the marketplace.

BizRate - Shopping guide that rates online merchants.

Buyer's Index - Links to 14,000 online merchants. Search by product or company. Includes "reliability ratings."

Consumer Reports® Online - You've entered a commercial-free zone. You'll find Consumer Reports advice, Ratings and recommendations, based on our own independent testing of consumer products and services. You'll find no advertising on this site.

Compare.net - Your complete source for product information online. Search and compare products to better educate yourself before making costly purchases.

FirstGov for Consumers - Your link to government consumer information.

Federal Consumer Information Center (CIC) - Includes information about cars, health, and much more. They provide the full text of many of their pamphlets.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Consumer Protection - ConsumerLine is the online service of the Office of Consumer and Business Education of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. If offers the full text of consumer publications on a wide range of categories, plus Education Campaigns - a collection of ongoing consumer initiatives, and Consumer Alerts! - brief publications with concise information about current issues.

Florida Attorney General - Includes ongoing consumer investigations

Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation - Search professional license information. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (BPR) protects Florida's citizens and visitors health, safety, and welfare by ensuring that regulated industries and certain non-medical professionals meet prescribed standards of education, competency and practice. BPR also ensures fairness in how entities are regulated as well as provide effective and efficient tax collection and enforcement of statutes and rules.

Florida Division of Consumer Services - Florida’s clearinghouse for consumer information, protection and complaints; functions as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s agent in Florida regarding product recalls, inspections and investigations.

Get Smart - The site is self described as: a free objective information service that helps take the complexity of borrowing.

GuideStar - Operated by Philanthropic Research, Inc., provides access to information on charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service.

National Fraud Information Center - The NFIC was originally established in 1992 by the National Consumers League, the oldest nonprofit consumer organization in the United States, to fight the growing menace of telemarketing fraud.

Parents Guide to the Internet - Released November 1997 by the US Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement and Office of Educational Technology - full text available at this website.

Smarter Travel - Free online consumer community devoted to travel.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) - Provides information on product recalls of all sorts, from baby products to medication to cars. CPSC, an independent Federal regulatory agency, helps keep American families safe by reducing the risk of injury or death from consumer products. Visit often to share lifesaving information. Click on "Talk to us" to report unsafe products.

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Insurance

InsWeb - "Our goal is to help you become an informed buyer of insurance. With a click of your mouse, you now have a wealth of information at your fingertips."

Yahoo! Insurance Center - Consumer-oriented features, articles, and websites relating to all types of insurance

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Legal
 

Americans With Disabilities—Information on Titles I, II, and III along with A.D.A. training.

FindLaw for the Public - Law-related articles and resources designed for lay consumers.

Legal Self-Help Center - Click on "self help center" to get links to summaries, written by the Florida Bar, for the layman, on various aspects of Florida law. The information comes in two forms: "scripts" and "pamphlets." The scripts are the written form of the information available from the Florida Bar Call-A-Law service. By clicking on a script topic, you can thus read the same information you would hear if you called the Florida Bar's Call-A-Law service on the telephone. Scripts are fairly short. Pamphlets are longer, more in-depth discussions, and are available in paper form from The Florida Bar. These materials are copyright 1996 The Florida Bar.

Nolo Press - Self Help Law Center featuring articles explaining legal issues to lay persons.

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Loans, Credit & Real Estate

Bankrate.com - Provides loan information as well as financial calculators.

Brevard County Property Appraiser's - This site was developed to assist taxpayers and many people within the community who make use of this public information.

Fannie Mae - The Federal National Mortgage Association site has a section for professional mortgage lenders and several sections for home buyers, including the home buyer section, with lists of properties for sale and other information and the Home Path section, with articles about home buying and financing, including interactive mortgage calculators.

GetSmart - Credit cards and financial information.

HomeFair - Real Estate articles on buying and financing a home, along with interactive calculators: a salary calculator for comparing the cost of living in different locales, calculators for moving costs and qualifying for a mortgage and a quizzer to help you understand some of the issues in buying your home and auto insurance.

HUD Homes for Sale - Look for homes for sale by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Site is organized by state.

Money's Best Places to Live - Money Magazine profiles America's 300 largest metro areas.

Monstermoving.com - Resources to help manage the moving and relocation process.

Victims of Credit Reporting - How to correct inaccuracies in your credit report.

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Reviews & Recommendations

ConsumerSearch - Reviews of all sorts of products. Searchable database has abstracts of review articles from online and print resources, with links to online full text where available.

Consumer World - A searchable collection of consumer resources on the Internet.

FirstGov for Consumers - U.S. Government site includes a ScamAlert.

Gomez - "The mission of Gomez Advisors is to be the single best source of insight for consumers when selecting e-commerce services."

Outlet Bound - This site enables the user to search for outlet stores by location, store name, and brand of merchandise.

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Senior Citizens

AARP - American Association of Retired Persons.

Administration on Aging (AOA) - Department of Health and Human Services site for Senior Citizens.

Alzheimer’s Association - Provides an array of information about different aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA) - Provides access to 5,000 non-profit housing facilities.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) - The Federal agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid.

FirstGov for Seniors - One-stop government site providing senior citizens access to government services and information.

Mid-Florida Area Agency on Aging (MFAAA) - The Mid-Florida Area Agency on Aging is a non-profit private organization located in Gainesville. The Agency is a locally controlled non-profit agency governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of individuals who represent their respective county and interest in the planning and service area. It has been designated by the State of Florida since 1977 to plan, coordinate, and advocate on behalf of older persons.

National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) - Designed for elder law attorneys, this site also has legal advice for senior citizens.

National Council on the Aging (NCOA) - This site contains useful information for senior citizens on saving, elder law and more.

Hospice - Contains information on advance directives for people who want to limit extraordinary life-saving care.

Social Security Online - Provides information on Social Security benefits, laws and regulations, Medicare, how to get publications and more.

WidowNet - This site provides information and resources for widows and widowers.

And don't forget--if your search for an answer didn't prove successful, contact the Reference Desk at your nearest Brevard County Public Library.