ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Spectrum News 13’s Watchdog team found an error regarding vehicle registrations in Orange County. The mix-up has impacted tens of thousands of people whose registrations expire in May.
- About 48,000 sent wrong vehicle renewal registration info
- Error only impacted people whose registrations expire in May
- READ IT: ▼ Tax Collector’s printing vendor takes responsibility ▼
County leaders say roughly 48,000 taxpayers were sent the wrong vehicle renewal registration information.
John Cloran says he received a notice with wrong information.
“When I opened it up, I looked at it, and suddenly instead of having 2001 F150, I got a Ford 1987 vehicle, and a Ford 1977 vehicle, and some other person’s name is at the top of the registration,” Cloran said.
Eddie Ayala, Communications Director for the Orange County Tax Collector, says the company responsible for printing the notices made the error and has taken full responsibility for the problem.
“I want to ensure the public this was not an instance of fraud this was human error that caused the wrong tag renewal notices to be sent to the wrong customers,” Ayala explained.
He says the correct notices are being sent to the right people at no cost to taxpayers. The personal information shared reportedly did not include driver’s license numbers, birthdates, or social security numbers.
Still, John Cloran is concerned about his vehicle information and doesn’t want it to be compromised by someone else.
“What is Orange County Tax Collector going to do for me to make sure no one goes in there and steals my identity, steals my vehicle from me by doing a title change?” Cloren asked.
Ayala said, “That wouldn’t be possible. In order to do that, you have to fill out a lot of paperwork, you have to prove your identity with your driver’s license and other documents, so that is not possible.”
County administrators say while correct notices are in the process of being sent out, residents can renew their tag on the Orange County Tax Collector’s website. They advise people who received incorrect notices to cut or tear the documents and throw it away. For more information regarding this mix up, visit the agency’s website.