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Note: See our Florida
page for local consumer information.
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.
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Automobiles
Auto.com - Automobile
reviews.
Auto
Lemon Law Info - Summaries, by state, including
Florida from Autopedia.com.
Carfax - "One
stop site to protect yourself against problems with
used cars. Carfax history reports reveal any hidden
problems with a particular vehicle. Comes with a buy
back guarantee."
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.
Florida
Lemon Laws - Brought to you by the Florida Division
of Consumer Services with a straightforward explanation
of the law. Access databases that search vehicle's
history using VIN numbers or if they are listed with
the National Insurance Crime Bureau.
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.
Consumer World
- Consumer World® is a public service, non-commercial
site which has gathered over 1800 of the most useful
consumer resources on the Internet, and categorized
them here for easy access. Whether you want to find
buying advice and product reviews, comparison shop
for bargains and last minute travel, read 100s of
consumer rights booklets, find a low rate credit card
or mortgage, look up the wholesale price of a car,
get personal finance tips, read news of the latest
scams, research a law, or clip electronic coupons,
you can do it in Consumer World.
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.
Recalls.gov
- Although other sites include this type of information,
this website is devoted to becoming the one stop for
recall information. All federal agencies report to
this site from FDA to USDA. Also available in Spanish.
Smarter Travel
- Free online consumer community devoted to travel.
Unclaimed Property
- NAUPA, National Association of Unclaimed Property
Administrators offer this website that covers all
50 states, US Territories and Quebec. Search individual
databases for information on unclaimed property.
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
Florida
Insurance Guide- a state site that provides insurance
consumer information. Contents include: licensing,
disaster information, health insurance for kids, rate
comparisons and insurance company information.
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.
Find
A Lawyer - Florida Bar member search and information
website. Access standing of members, bar affiliations,
ethics and licensure.
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.
Loans, Credit & Real Estate
Annual
Credit Report - This site allows you to request
a free credit report once every 12 months from the big
three credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian
and TransUnion.
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.
Florida
Medicare - From the Senior's Information Bureau,
this quick online brochure provides information about
the Florida Medicare prescription drug coverage and
drug plans.
Medicare -
The official site for medicare that includes information
about prescription drug plans and other resources.
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.
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.
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