Posts Tagged ‘Chinese Drywall Class Action Lawsuit’
Chinese Drywall News Alerts
| Miami-Dade Officials Announce Drywall Assistance Poder 360 Miami-Dade County homeowners with Chinese drywall issues will receive financial help from the county on the toxic situation. County officials have reported … |
| Drywall victims get break MiamiHerald.com … are related to faulty Chinese drywall won’t have to pay any permitting fees to repair their homes, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said Thursday. … |
| Property appraiser trying to figure way to help tainted drywall victims Palm Beach Post More Money news » From The Post and AP By Jennifer Sorentrue More than 500 Palm Beach County homeowners whose property is tainted with Chinese drywall have … |
| Miami-Dade to help Chinese drywall victims Bizjournals.com Homeowners dealing with Chinese drywall can also try to get their property taxes reduced. Unlike the county permit program, which mostly applies to … |
| IRS: Tax deduction may go to homeowners with tainted Chinese drywall Scripps News The IRS statement comes a week after federal investigators issued a study concluding that there was a “strong association” between tainted Chinese drywall … |
| Gulfport Chinese drywall lawsuit could be among first in federal court WLOX By Trang Pham-Bui – bio | email GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) – A Gulfport couple hopes its lawsuit against a major manufacturer of defective Chinese drywall will be … |
| Congress Takes on Chinese Drywall Housing Wire These are the latest legislative actions taken by Congress to address the Chinese drywall situation. A Consumer Product Safety Commission-led task force, … |
| House Passes Chinese Drywall Resolution RealEstateRama … resolving this problem,†said Posey who recently toured several homes in Indian River County that have been affected by contaminated Chinese drywall. … |
| House Passes Glenn Nye’s Resolution to Aid Toxic Drywall Victims RealEstateRama … in Hampton Roads affected by toxic drywall. “I have seen firsthand the physical, emotional, and financial burden toxic Chinese drywall creates,†said … |
Breaking News Chinese Drywall!
I have Chinese Drywall, I’m located in South Florida. I created this website to help homeowners and to help get an understanding of how widespread this disaster is. If you have Chinese Drywall I want to hear from you, please register here.
WARNING: If your home was built or renovated between 2004 and 2007, it may contain a defective and dangerous product known as Chinese Drywall.
WHY IT’S DANGEROUS:
Chinese Drywall emits toxins that may pose serious health threats to homeowners, including respiratory problems, headaches, and nose bleeds. The toxins also corrode metal within a home causing severe damage to electronic equipment, wires, pipes and air conditioning systems.
Chinese Drywall Lawyers Appointed to Leadership Roles in Federal MDL
U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon has appointed 14 different Chinese drywall lawyers to serve in leadership roles in the consolidated litigation over defective drywall imported from China, which has been centralized in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
On June 15, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all cases filed throughout the country involving issues with Chinese drywall into an MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation. The cases have been transferred to Judge Fallon for coordinated pretrial litigation and discovery, and Judge Fallon has indicated that he intends to fast track the litigation, with the first trials for Chinese drywall lawsuits potentially beginning within six months.
According to an order issued last week, Arnold Levin was appointed to serve as Lead Counsel for the plaintiffs, Russ Herman was appointed as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and twelve other lawyers were appointed to serve on a Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee.
Thousands of homeowners have experienced problems with defective Chinese drywall that was used to build homes between 2004 and 2007. The drywall was imported from China as a result of a shortage of domestic drywall caused by a housing boom and rebuilding from several hurricanes.
The defective drywall contains sulfur compounds that can emit a “rotten egg” smell, corrode electrical appliances and wiring, and potentially cause health problems for residents. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that complaints have been received from homeowners in 21 states, with most of the complaints coming from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.
Although individual plaintiffs will continue to be represented by the Chinese drywall lawyers they retained to handle their cases, the attorneys assigned to leadership roles will perform duties during discovery, hearings and meetings that are for the common benefit of all plaintiffs whose cases have been consolidated before Judge Fallon.
The aggressive schedule laid out by Judge Fallon for moving the cases toward trial calls for each side to select 10 cases to begin early discovery, which will later be narrowed down to five cases for trial. The first cases will deal with property damage claims only, because they can be resolved quicker than the Chinese drywall injury lawsuits.
While the litigation is ongoing, lawmakers have been trying to find relief for homeowners affected by the Chinese drywall problems. Last Tuesday, Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) sent a letter to President Brack Obama asking for the White House to mobilize federal resources and asking that the president create a federal Drywall Assistance Center where homeowners can find information on federal resources and the status of drywall investigations.
Nelson also specifically asked Obama to look into homeowner assistance grants and other grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and suggested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) could assist with relocation of homeowners affected by defective Chinese drywall.
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/chinese-drywall-lawyers-appointed-to-leadership-in-mdl-5201/
Chinese Drywall Suit Scheduled for Trial September 2010
The trial date for a Chinese drywall suit in Florida is scheduled for later next year, making it potentially the first in a series of cases that will be submitted to a jury involving damages caused by the toxic drywall.
The Miami Herald reports that the lawsuit over Chinese drywall brought by Melissa and Jason Harrell against South Kendall Construction, Palm Holdings, Keys Gate Realty and Banner Supply Co. will go to trial in Miami-Dade Circuit Court in September 2010.
The Harrells’ complaint alleges that defective drywall from China contained high amounts of sulfur, which caused breathing problems and headaches, corroded the coils of their air conditioner and filled their home with a chemical smell. The suit indicates that conditions caused by the defective drywall forced them to move out of their new home, which was built only three years ago.
Thousands of homes across the United States have experienced similar problems from Chinese drywall imported into the country between 2004 and 2007. The drywall was made with fly ash residue from the chimneys of coal-fired power plants, and has been found to contain high amounts of sulfur compounds. Some estimates suggest that the drywall may have been used to build as many as 300,000 homes throughout the country.
The high levels of sulfur in the drywall have been found to cause “rotten egg” smells and the gases emitted by the drywall corrode copper wiring and appliances, such as air conditioner units. There have also been concerns that the drywall is causing health problems such as headaches, breathing difficulties, insomnia and nosebleeds.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) ordered that all Chinese drywall lawsuits filed in federal courts throughout the country will be consolidated and centralized in the Eastern District of Louisiana for pretrial litigation. The cases will be handled in a coordinated manner to avoid duplicative discovery and inconsistent pretrial rulings. However, no case management order has been issued for the federal lawsuits and it is not anticipated that the first trial date will be scheduled before the end of next year.
While the Chinese drywall suits are proceeding through the court system, lawmakers are seeking several avenues for home owner relief. House and Senate Democrats are currently investigating whether Chinese drywall problems will qualify home owners for special tax deductions under casualty loss tax code laws, and Senators Bill Nelson and Mary Landrieu have called for a Chinese drywall recall.
http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/chinese-drywall-suit-scheduled-for-trial-4623/
Chinese drywall poses risks to Florida homeowners
Published: April 11, 2009
PARKLAND – At the height of the U.S. housing boom, when building materials were in short supply, American construction companies used millions of pounds of Chinese-made drywall because it was abundant and cheap.
Now that decision is haunting hundreds of homeowners and apartment dwellers who are concerned that the wallboard gives off fumes that can corrode copper pipes, blacken jewelry and silverware, and possibly sicken people.
Shipping records reviewed by The Associated Press indicate that imports of potentially tainted Chinese building materials exceeded 500 million pounds during a four-year period of soaring home prices. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
“This is a traumatic problem of extraordinary proportions,” said U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat who introduced a bill in the House calling for a temporary ban on the Chinese-made imports until more is known about their chemical makeup. Similar legislation has been proposed in the Senate.