The Chinese Drywall Problem
Imported drywall from China has ruined many homes. There are literally thousands of lawsuits being filed. The insurance compaies are refusing to pay calling this problem a pollutant. Even worse if you make a clain with you homeowners insurance
the insures are canceiing you when renwel comes up.
Class action lawsuits have been filed and are going forward. If you have this problem seek the adice of an attorney who is handling these cases. there is a veritable cottage industry growing up around these claims.
Below is an excerpt from the AAJ news brief. This is an email news feature from the American Association of Justice that I subscribe to.
The Bradenton (FL) Herald (10/8, Gagliano) reports, "In most cases, insurance companies are likely to reject claims over Chinese drywall and, in some circumstances, insurers will not renew policies." Filing a claim "over Chinese drywall damages may be the biggest risk factor for homeowners in terms of not being renewed. 'As long as no claims have happened, it shouldn't be a problem,' [Alden Weichel, president of Bradenton Insurance], said. 'If a claim has come out it could face nonrenewal
On the front page of its Business Day section, the New York Times (10/8, B1, Wayne) reports that hundreds of lawsuits from homeowners affected by Chinese drywall "are piling up in state and federal courts, and a consolidated class action is moving forward in Louisiana before Judge Eldon E. Fallon of Federal District Court, who will begin hearing cases in January."
But "whether the Florida builders who brought the class-action lawsuit could ever collect on any future judgment remains unclear, because of the difficulty of gaining jurisdiction and enforcing rulings against foreign companies, especially in China." The Times notes that insurance companies "have become a popular target of lawsuits over their refusal to pay claims filed by homeowners and home builders, stating that their policies do not cover problems caused by pollutants."
Here is the problem with the drywall. Chinese drywall has been shown to emit sulfuric gases that cause respiratory problems and symptoms such as itchy eyes and nose bleeds. Homeowners also have reported corrosion to electrical components such as air conditioning units and appliances.
This month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, whose investigation into Chinese drywall is the largest in its history, will release the results of a study to determine why the drywall is causing the problem, and what kind of remediation programs might be effective.
Already, the commission has sent six investigators to Chinese gypsum mines and to meet with the government there. The Chinese government’s counterpart to the federal safety commission sent two of its experts here to inspect affected homes.
The commission is also making sure that no more Chinese drywall comes into the country.
Investigators are finding that getting scientific data, establishing legal accountability and following a supply chain is difficult when so many drywall sheets — millions in all were brought into the United States — were simply marked “Made in China,” providing no clues to their actual source. The drywall was brought in because United States supplies ran low, not as a cost-saving measure for builders.
One target of the lawsuits is Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, a German company with manufacturing plants in China that supplied about 20 percent of the Chinese drywall brought into the United States.
Here are links to a firm handling Chines Drywall
http://www.hausfeldllp.com/
Hausfeld LLP, Levin Fishbein and Colson Hicks – the three firms that filed the first major Chinese drywall class action (Vickers v. Knauf Gips, et al.,) in the Southern District of Florida – announced that they have expanded the scope of litigation and filed the first statewide defective drywall class actions on behalf of Virginia and North Carolina residents negatively impacted by defective drywall in their homes.
There is also an investigation starting on drywall made in the United States.
If you think you have a drywall problem you may want to consider contacting one of these firm directly.
by Cincinnati Personal injury and accident attorney anthony Castelli
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