Chinese Drywall Lawsuits and Claims
Yes, Chinese drywall lawsuits have started to trickle in, but this little stream is going to turn into a full-fledged river of claims by attorneys specializing in Chinese drywall. It may even continue to grow long beyond that, as more and more homeowners discover that their house was built with sulfuric smell-emanating drywall.
One of the first US corporations to be sued was Lennar Corp. The lawsuit claims that they bought two homes from Lennar which have subsequently turned out to be tainted by sulfuric gas coming from the cheap Chinese drywall that Lennar installed in them. This is typical of the Chinese, and typical of many of the predatory homebuilders that put people in houses during the mid-2000’s, knowing full well that they wouldn’t be able to afford their mortgage payments a couple years down the road when their interest rates went up.
But Lennar is only the first in a long line of Chinese drywall lawsuits that are to come. As the warm air hits more and more houses, and stimulates the latent materials in their walls, thousands of homeowners will discover that they’ve been duped by cheap contractors and even cheaper Chinese manufacturing companies.
Folks, if it’s too good to be true… What other secrets have we yet to discover about illicit practices that were engaged in over the past few years just to make a quick buck? But don’t worry Lennar, I’m sure the US taxpayer will pick up the tab in one way or another.
There are now lots of lawyers advertising on the Internet who can provide legal help to people who have fallen into this huge problem. The way I see it, these lawsuits are going to be golden. What kind of a case can a builder make for why he installed poisonous walls in your home? None that I can see. I don’t think courts will let them off the hook because, “We didn’t make it. We just bought it from China.” But maybe I’m wrong.
The real problem in these lawsuits could be if it is found that there was some knowledge or cover-up about the potential drywall problems. If that is found to be true, then a lot of people are going to make a lot of money through the class-actions.
If you don’t think these Chinese drywall lawsuits are a serious problem, then I would submit to you that on the day that Lennar admitted it was being sued, its stock price dropped by nearly 20 percent in one day. That means that the investors who study things like this believe it’s likely that these companies are going to have to pay out a very significant sum of money to the homeowners they offended.
If you are a person who has been affected by this epidemic, I can’t give you specific legal counsel, but I suggest you seek some out. And I wish you all the best in your fight.
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Defective Chinese Drywall
Southern states all across the US are beginning to ramp up their investigations into the nature of the defective drywall problems that have recently come to light. This cheap drywall, imported from China, has been emitting sulfur fumes in the houses in which it was installed, causing an unpleasant experience for all involved.
As the lawsuits begin to trickle out, so are high-profile inquiries into the nature of this beast. For instance, the University of Florida’s building and construction school has been tapped to look into that state’s drywall problems.
The leading speculation as to the origin of the defective drywall is that it was originally mixed with ash waste from coal mines in rural China. They have lower standards of safety over there, and this is probably why the problem arose. However, it should never have been allowed to be imported into the US, and somewhere heads are going to roll. As more lab work is done, more will come to light. In the meantime, homeowners all through the South are discovering that the houses that they had built over the last five or more years are starting to smell like rotten eggs.
Early estimates of the scope of this problem peg the potential number of affected houses at possibly 100,000. Why the cases are taking place in the South US is not currently known, but some think it is because the warmer weather is like a trigger that causes the drywall’s composition to change. I wonder if it is because of a few big building companies that tend to operate in the Southeast; maybe they all used the same Chinese exporter.
The company Knauf, located in China, has already admitted that some of its defective drywall complaints are specifically tied to a gypsum mine in Tianjin, which they no longer use at all. Who knows if they’re telling the truth.
My own personal belief is that this problem has barely even begun to rear its head. I hope I’m wrong, but that’s just my feeling. It reminds me a bit of the subprime credit crisis in how it sleeps for awhile before it blows up. Companies like Knauf really ought to take more precautions.
So the question becomes: who will pay for these homes to be stripped of their old, defective drywall and replaced? It may have to be the American companies, such as the builder Lennar Corp., who ultimately have to pay up in settlements. The number of lawsuits being filed is climbing like a rocket, as everyday a new homeowner wakes up to the smell of sulfur emanating from his very own walls.
If your home has been affected by this travesty, you need to know a couple basic things. Firstly, some people have reported getting sick but the full extent of that sickness is not really clear at this point. And secondly, you may want to consider your legal options.
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