By Matt DeRienzo, Staff Reporter

Mark Greenberg‘s 5th District Congress campaign is criticizing a last-minute TV ad paid for by Republican primary rival Lisa Wilson-Foley.

Lisa Wilson-Foley (New Haven Register Photo/Peter Casolino)

The ad criticizes Greenberg for having had liens against one of his real estate developments, “leaving small businesses in the lurch,” and for having a “$600,000 lien against his house.”

“Lisa Wilson-Foley’s new ad is a blatant lie and an act of desperation from a tainted campaign that is under multiple federal investigations,” said Greenberg spokesman Chris Cooper. “This last-second, completely misleading ad does not even provide a citation for her claims, which may be yet another violation of federal election law committed by her campaign.”

Numerous sources have described internal campaign polling showing a tight three-way race in Tuesday’s Republican primary among Andrew Roraback, Greenberg and Wilson-Foley, with Justin Bernier trailing.

Some have predicted a surprise showing by Greenberg, who has billed himself as the “one true conservative” alternative to the more moderate Roraback and Wilson-Foley.

That’s in part because Greenberg has not been the subject of negative TV attacks until this weekend’s Wilson-Foley ad.

Up until that point, he was the only “untouched” candidate as the airwaves, mailboxes and news reports have been filled with Bernier and Wilson-Foley attacks on Roraback, Roraback attacks on Wilson-Foley, Roraback accusing Bernier of lying, and Greenberg attacks on Roraback and Wilson-Foley.

Wilson-Foley campaign operative Chris Healy has tried for months to get reporters to write about the liens, but Connecticut news outlets, including The Register Citizen, have declined after learning the details.

According to the Greenberg campaign, a bank behind a construction loan for one of his developments backed out in the middle of the project, leading to mechanic’s liens (which are pretty easy to file and pretty common in such disputes). Rather than wait for a judge to issue an order against the bank, Greenberg paid contractors on the project out of his own pocket.

As for the “$600,000 lien on his house,” it’s the subject of ongoing litigation between Greenberg and a real estate company over property he backed out of buying in Canada. A quirk in Canadian law allows sellers to not only keep the deposit Greenberg paid, but also the difference between the original selling price and what the property eventually sold for after the buyer backed out. Greenberg says this part of the law was not explained to him by his real estate agents in Canada, and that’s partly what the lawsuit is about.

“Over the past six months, Lisa Foley has approached every Connecticut television station and newspaper trying unsuccessfully to get them to write about the claims in her ad. Having had her lies rejected by the media, Lisa is now paying to have them aired on television and radio,” Cooper said. “The truth is that there are no outstanding tax liens on any of Mark Greenberg’s properties — and Lisa W. Foley knows that, which makes her deliberate smear tactic all the worse.”

Email Matt DeRienzo at mderienzo@journalregister.com. Follow our 5th District coverage on Twitter @5thDistrictCT or on Facebook @CT5thDistrictCT.