Chinese Drywall Class Action Suit Settled for 300 Homes
Seven Florida homeowners accepted terms of pilot abatement program.
October 15, 2010 -- People stuck with homes with contaminated Chinese drywall have gotten little help from insurers, builders, lenders or Chinese manufacturers until now.
According to the Associated Press, a Chinese drywall manufacturer, along with suppliers, builders, and insurers, agreed yesterday to a court-negotiated pilot program, to repair up to 300 homes in four states and possibly thousands more damaged by corrosive drywall.
Only homes built with Knauf drywall will be included in the pilot program. Other companies being sued for manufacturing defective drywall -- including Taishan Gypsum Ltd., which has direct ties to the Chinese government, are not part of the agreement.
In this pilot program, up to 300 homeowners in Florida, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi whose homes had drywall manufactured by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. will get their homes fixed. Homeowners in Texas, North Carolina, and Virginia could be added soon.
Of the 300 homes, only 179 Chinese drywall litigants in Florida were eligible to be part of the court-negotiated pilot program. Seven homeowners in Florida, including two in Port St. Lucie, accepted the terms of the program.
The two homes in Port St. Lucie are on Leonardo Circle in the Vizcaya Falls subdivision just South of Midway Road. Many of the homes in that division were built in Florida's boom years between 2004 to 2007.
Knauf and the other companies have agreed to replace drywall, wiring, alarm systems, and fixtures. Many more of the 2,000 to 3,000 homes built with Knauf drywall might be fixed under similar terms if the pilot program is successful.
So far, homeowners with corrosive drywall, which was manufactured mostly in China, have not received much financial help. Most insurance companies have yet to pay out claims, and only a handful of home builders have replaced the bad drywall.
