Drywall Lawsuit in Alabama, Florida & Mississippi
Breaking News
A federal judge has issued his verdict in the first contested Chinese drywall trial, known as the Hernandez case.
The verdict, by U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon -- who is overseeing the massive combined Chinese drywall litigation in New Orleans – awards $164,000 plus attorneys' fees and court costs to Mandeville, La. couple Tatum and Charlene Hernandez. The decision calls for their house to be largely gutted down to the studs – replacing all drywall, ductwork, the entire electrical system, all copper and silver components, the HVAC system and all damaged appliances and consumer electronics.
As part of the judgment, Fallon ordered that Chinese manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd must pay the Hernandez family for about $5,400 for damaged personal property, as well as close to $20,000 for alternative living arrangements.
The decision today comes on the heels of Fallon's previous ruling April 8 awarding $2.6 million to seven Virginia homeowners and the comprehensive remediation ordered for the Hernandez home echoes Fallon's previous ruling that only stringent remediation standards would suffice to solve the problem -- involving largely gutting the homes of all drywall and other components such as wiring, pipes, electronics and appliances.
The Hernandez case, argued in mid-March in a bench trial before Fallon, marked the first contested case over Chinese drywall, with plaintiffs' attorneys squaring off against lawyers for Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd, known as KPT.
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Chinese Drywall Emits Toxic Sulfur Fumes
From 2004 through 2006, the housing boom and rebuilding efforts necessitated by various
hurricanes led to a shortage of construction materials, including drywall. As a result, drywall
manufactured in China was brought into the United States and used in the construction and
refurbishing of homes in coastal areas of the country, notably the Gulf Coast and East Coast.
Sometime after the installation of the Chinese drywall, homeowners began to complain of emissions
of smelly gasses, the corrosion and blackening of metal wiring, surfaces, and objects, and the
breaking down of appliances and electrical devices in their homes. Many of these homeowners also
began to complain of various physical afflictions believed to be caused by the Chinese drywall.
Accordingly, these homeowners began to file suit in various state and federal courts against
homebuilders, developers, installers, realtors, brokers, suppliers, importers, exporters, distributors,
and manufacturers who were involved with the Chinese drywall. Because of the commonality of
facts in the various cases, this litigation was designated as multidistrict litigation ("MDL"). Pursuant
to a Transfer Order from the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on June 15,
2009, all federal cases involving Chinese drywall were consolidated for pretrial proceedings in the
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.
Americas Watchdog and its Homeowners Consumer Center are expanding their national investigation of imported toxic Chinese drywall into every US state, and every major US metropolitan area. The group has now identified numerous victims in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia, Nevada, the Carolinas and Texas. The drywall may have been used in more than 100,000 homes, according to some estimates, including houses rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.
Alabama Chinese Drywall Lawsuit
Dozens of homeowners in the Southeast have sued builders, suppliers and manufacturers. The Chinese Drywall Lawsuit claims the very walls around them are emitting smelly sulfur compounds that are poisoning their families and rendering their homes uninhabitable.
The Homeowners Consumer Center fears the Chinese dry wall was used in the post Hurricane Katrina metro areas of New Orleans and Texas. According to the group, "the imported Chinese drywall is coast to coast, and it is so toxic, that it will corrode air conditioning coils, and electrical wiring. This mentions nothing of the health affects related to exposure."
A federal lawsuit alleges that fly ash residue from Chinese power plants was used in drywall that's the subject of growing scrutiny in Florida.
“Defendants' drywall was made with waste material from scrubbers on coal-fired power plants, also called ‘fly ash.’ These materials can leak in the air and emit one of several sulfur compounds including sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide."
The Homeowners Consumer Center is saying, "we think there is about to be a seismic shift from Florida, to the entire nation and in particular the West Coast. Most people we talk to never realized the problem with their home was the drywall. This is the worst environmental mess we have ever heard of." If you are a homeowner in a new home built since 2001 in any state, that has a rotten egg, or sulphur smell, and you have charred, or black electrical wires." You may have toxic chinese drywall in your home.
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.
More Information: How To Tell If Your Home Has Toxic Chinese Drywall
