Tampa Bay Personal Injury Lawyer - drywall

Deadline for Chinese Drywall Class Action Lawsuit

Joe Saunders — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:08:37 GMT

Now that one of the major manufacturers of the contaminated Chinese drywall has agreed to accept service of a class action lawsuit, the time to act is now. If your home has been contaminated by Chinese drywall and you're contemplating a lawsuit, you must contact a lawyer so that your home can be inspected. The inspection will determine if the Chinese drywall in your home comes from Knauf. If the inspection proves positive for Knauf Chinese drywall, your claim has to be submitted to the class by December 2, 2009. There will be no extensions for this deadline so the time to act is now!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Joe Saunders

Chinese Drywall Defendant Agrees to Accept Service of Class Action Lawsuit

Joe Saunders — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:51:46 GMT

Chinese drywall defendant Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. has agreed to accept service of process concerning a Chinese drywall class action lawsuit in which Knauf is being sued for manufacturing and importing the contaminated Chinese drywall into the United States.

This is a major victory for the thousands of homeowners who've had their homes contaminated with the drywall. The agreement means that all the drywall lawsuits can be consolidated into a class action and the homeowners won't have to pay the $15,000 fee for each lawsuit filed in the court.

However, Chinese drywall homeowners must submit proof that their home has been contaminated with the drywall and secure a lawyer to represent them by December 2, 2009.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Joe Saunders

Defective Product Accountability for Foreign Manufacturers

Joe Saunders — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:44:10 GMT

The Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2009 (S. 1606) is a good consumer protection bill that's been introduced in the US Senate by Senators Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Jeff Sessions. Essentially, the bill aims to hold foreign companies accountable for defective products that injure US consumers.

Presently, foreign manufacturers who export defective products into the US that injure American are not held accountable because it's difficult to hold foreign companies accountable in US courts. The new legislative proposal would accomplish the following:

Requires manufacturers to have an “agent” located in at least one state where the company does business that would accept service of process for any civil and regulatory claims.
Companies would consent to state and federal jurisdiction, holding foreign manufacturers accountable to those judicial standards.

According to the American Association for Justice, "

"The legislation covers products regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), such as children’s toys; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), including prescription drugs and medical devices; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), like pesticides.

'Finally, foreign corporations will be on notice that their products must meet our standards and be subject to our legal system,' added Tarricone. 'Not only will American businesses be on a level-playing field with foreign corporations, but consumers will now have the added security that our civil justice system offers.'

Aside from the toxic drywall produced, this legislation would cover imported products seen in the news like poisonous toothpaste that contained diethylene glycol, children’s toys and jewelry coated with toxic levels of lead paint, and pet food that contained melamine, a compound used to make plastic."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Joe Saunders

Defective Drywall: More Than a Rotten Smell

Matthew Leeth — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 01:45:19 GMT

Many South Florida homeowners thought the damage done to their home was over when Hurricane Charlie left the area. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Hurricane Charlie made landfall in August 2004 in Punta Gorda, FL as a stage 4 hurricane. This was the most powerful hurricane to hit the sunshine state since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. In the worse hit areas, homes were leveled and businesses destroyed. In other areas of the state, homes were severely damaged by wind and flooding. In most cases, homeowners rebuilt their homes or made the substantial repairs necessary to live in their home once again.

The large spike in home building and repair created a shortage of drywall. Drywall had to be purchased from distributers from around the globe in order to meet demand. Many manufacturers, some now bankrupt, utilized Knauf Plasterboard to meet their drywall needs. Knauf Plasterboard shipped the home builders drywall produced in China. With little or no regulation in the drywall industry, the drywall was installed into thousands of homes without any oversight.

It turns out the drywall used an unusually high level of organic material, which produced sulfur that became trapped inside the drywall. Florida's humidity caused the gases to escape the drywall, and has caused respiratory problems as well as corrosion of the electrical wiring and fixtures.

Fast forward nearly five years. According to the Florida Department of Health over 150 complaints have been received by homeowners complaining of a rotten egg smell (the common association with sulfur gas), corroded copper fixtures and the repeated failure of their home's air conditioning system. For those affected, the only cure is to completely remove the drywall from their home, replace all the wiring and fixtures affected, and install new, safe drywall.

For many of those affected by Hurricane Charlie, the nightmare is far from over. What's worse, Hurricane Katrina victims are expected to face similar problems in the coming years as the gases escape. Some homeowners who were not even directly affected by either hurricane - those who simply had their home built during the time of spiked demand - are likely affected as well. Nationwide it is estimated that upwards of 100,000 homes are affected. This leads to the question - Why was there no independent testing done prior to the installation?

Governor Crist is stepping in, asking the federal government to assist in the matter. Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) has introduced legislation to institute testing of all drywall imported between 2004 and 2007. The bill also bans the types of drywall responsible for this disaster. This may be effective in the identifying drywall with high toxicity imported between 2004 and 2007, but will it be enough to prevent another massive defect of another kind from occurring? Perhaps this bill should go one step farther and institute a cost-effective testing procedure for all imported drywall, in order to ensure an economic and hazardous disaster like this does not occur again.

Concrete, steel, and other structural components are tested in order to ensure buildings don't collapse. Pipes are tested to ensure they don't leak. Why isn't drywall tested, if only sporradically, to ensure minimal toxicity?

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Matthew Leeth