Earlier this year, homeowners in Florida joined a class action lawsuit against the makers of the tainted drywall that ruined their homes, (and caused their insurers to drop their homeowners policies). The settlement for this case could be as much as $1 billion.
Purchasing a home is, even now, a big part of “the American dream”. Unfortunately, for several homeowners in Florida, that dream quickly turned into a nightmare. Many brand new homes in Florida were made with what turned out to be tainted drywall.
Homeowners started to notice a smell that was similar to the stench of rotten eggs. This was due to the volatile sulfur compounds in the tainted drywall. When these compounds were exposed to heat or moisture, they released a bad smell into the air. Keep in mind these homes were located in Florida, which typically has hot and humid weather.
The homes became unlivable. Families who were trying to live in them experienced many health problems, including upper respiratory problems, earaches, sore throats, headaches, nosebleeds, rashes, and other health problems.
The drywall corroded the copper wiring in the walls, in the air conditioning, and in several other parts of these homes. Many of these families had purchased homeowners insurance, which should cover the repair of this sort of damage. However, some of those insurers chose to drop customers whose homes contained tainted drywall, instead of helping them.
In June of 2011, a class action lawsuit was filed against the company that distributed the tainted Chinese drywall. That company, Banner Supply Co., turned out to be a “middleman”, who got the drywall from a German company. Banner Supply Co. was suing the German company, and was ordered by a judge to disclose important financial details about itself, in order for homeowners to be able to determine if they wished to join that lawsuit.
This week, homeowners who were affected by the tainted drywall agreed to a legal settlement with the German manufacturer Knauf International. It turns out that a Chinese subsidiary of Knauf International was the company that made the tainted drywall.
The settlement has yet to be approved by the court. If it is approved, then it could provide money for the necessary repairs on as many as 4,500 homes that contained drywall that was made by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin, (or KPT). An inspection of the homes will take place, which could potentially result in fewer than 2,700 homeowners receiving part of the settlement.
Image by bucklava on Flickr