Fact check: Ad attacks Orange County property appraiser

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An outside group is going after Orange County Property Appraiser Rick Singh with an ad that seems to be very light on substance.

The ad, from a group called "For A Better Orange County," drags up a federal civil suit against Singh and his subsequent name change. However, an investigation by Channel 9's Christopher Heath showed there is no connection between the two incidents, and the lawsuit that named Singh was dropped; something the ad never mentioned.

The first allegation in the ad, that Singh was sued in federal court is true. However, the ad never mentions that the plaintiff in the case, ING Bank, also sued a dozen other people and in the case of Singh asked for the case to be dismissed.

“The plaintiffs in that case asked for the court to dismiss it with prejudice, which the court did,” WFTV legal analyst Bill Sheaffer said. “What that means is after exhaustive discovery, the plaintiff came to the conclusion that there was no merit to their claim against Singh.”

The other charge made in the ad is that Singh, whose first name at the time was Parmanand, changed his name to “Rick” so voters wouldn’t discover the lawsuit.

The claim is not supported by fact, only innuendo.

Singh did change his name from Parmanand to Rick; however, the paperwork for that name change is a matter of public record and easily available on the Orange County Clerk of Courts website.

As for the group behind the attack ad, “For A Better Orange County," the group lists two men on its paperwork with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections: DC lobbyist Scott Barnhart and Fort Myers attorney Sawyer Smith.

Nine Investigates attempted to contact both Barnhart and Smith, but neither one returned phone calls.

According to records, “For a Better Orange County” has received $105,500 from a group called “Florida Regulatory Policy Institute." Nine Investigates attempted to track down documents for “Florida Regulatory Policy Institute," however, no group is listed either with the state of Florida or with Orange County.

Cox Media Group