DrywallThe end is near for the Chinese drywall saga that hit the Southeast last year, and Florida in particular, as manufacturer Knauf, and its Chinese affiliate, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, agreed to a settlement that would provide cash to replace drywall in affected homes.
According to NBC Miami, the settlement will cost between $600 million and $1 billion as the company will cover the costs to repair all 4,500 houses affected, 55 percent of which are in Florida. [more]
Florida families hurt by Chinese drywall should receive financial aid, interim director of the state’s Department of Emergency Management, David Halstead, wrote to Washington yesterday. Halstead wrote the letter to officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the urging of Governor Charlie Crist, who has expressed concern over the broad and potentially more widespread risks associated with drywall from China. The letter asked federal officials to consider alternative modes of compensation. Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties are three of the four highest counties in number of Florida Department of Health drywall cases. According to the letter, Halstead asked the government to conduct a preliminary damage assessment related to these problems, and warned that there could be far more families affected than previously anticipated. [Sun-Sentinel]
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A myriad of test kits, inspections and quick fixes on offer for contaminated Chinese drywall has drawn a warning from the Federal Trade Commission.
But amid the claims of dubious merit, South Florida construction firms offering full remediation are looking for business — and legitimacy. A recent quick Google search for “Chinese drywall remediation construction firms in Florida” turned up 8,830 results in .22 seconds.
But can the Chinese drywall problem really be remediated or are construction firms with idle crews merely looking for a new revenue stream in a South Florida economy where new projects have all but come to a screeching halt?
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As South Florida Chinese drywall lawsuits head to trial in federal court, local construction companies are rushing to market with offers to remediate properties affected by the material.
But legal experts debate whether or not homeowners are signing their legal rights away in exchange for a property that can never be truly remediated.
In late December, Homestead residents Jason and Melissa Harrell saw movement in their lawsuit against Palm Holdings, Banner Supply, South Kendall Construction and Keys Gate Realty over Chinese drywall issues that forced them out of their home in 2006.
Their victory could open the door to a wave of new suits — if homeowners don’t let builders attempt to remediate, according to Allison Grant, a member of the commercial litigation and construction litigation practice groups at the law firm Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Gora in Boca Raton. [more]
Universal North America cancelled property insurance for a Hallandale Beach man whose home was built using defective Chinese-drywall. It’s the second insurer to put the brakes on coverage because of the defective building material. Although the unidentified homeowner got coverage with state-backed Citizens Property Insurance, the company has been denying claims that homeowners’ policies don’t cover contamination or building material defects. [Miami Herald]
The nation’s top housing official got up close and personal with Boynton Beach home owners victimized by defective Chinese-made drywall as part of his recent South Florida trip. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan met yesterday with some of the 70 homeowners in the Cobblestone Creek neighborhood who have faced health problems and financial complications from the noxious building material, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Heather Desola said her family and neighbors have had a heartbreaking experience, and joined others in asking for more help with grants and assistance with loan troubles.
Some home owners plagued by the obvious troubles caused by defective Chinese drywall — foul smells, corroded metal fixtures and possible health problems — now face the possible loss of their property insurance. Many insurers are denying claims because the homeowners policies they’ve issued don’t cover contamination or building material defects. But existing damage is grounds for canceling a policy, which Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer, has done in some instances.
A proposed law coming out of the U.S. Senate could ease the way for
homeowners to sue the maker of defective Chinese drywall, which is in
as many as 106,000 homes in 29 states. Florida has a high proportion of
tainted drywall, thanks to a building boom and repairs from hurricane
damage. Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse introduced
the Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2009, which was
co-sponsored by Senator Jeff Sessions. The Senate Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts must bring the
bill to a full vote. [more]
A pair of fires that may be connected to tainted Chinese drywall
products are being investigated by federal and state agencies.
Additionally, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said it won’t
publish even preliminary conclusions until September. The group has
fielded 608 complaints from 21 states, with Florida and Louisiana
topping the list. [more]
The builder of the Whitney condominium in downtown West Palm Beach
plans to test all 210 units in the complex following initial tests that
found defective Chinese-made drywall in half of the samples. Residents
were notified by e-mail by property manager Paul Wilkis, who also sent
the initial results from Thonotosassa-based A2L Technologies, the
environmental testing firm. Bovis Lend Lease, which built the project,
plans to do its own tests over the next two weeks. [more]
