Chinese Drywall Victim’s Award Like “First to Land on Moon”

June 23rd, 2010. By LucyC

A bit of a landmark lawsuit snuck under that radar this week. A couple from Florida—whom you may have heard of if you are following the Chinese Drywall debacle—Lisa and Armin Seifart—were awarded about $2.5 million by a jury in Miami-Dade County, Florida, in damages and expenses in their defective drywall lawsuit. They had asked for $4 million. 

The Seifarts brought their lawsuit against the Miami-based drywall supplier, Banner Supply, and drywall manufacturer, Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin. It turns out Banner had an agreement with Knauf Plasterboard to replace some 2.3 million square feet of defective Chinese drywall with domestically made product. But, smelling an opportunity to save a buck, Banner only replaced the defective drywall in homes where builders and/or installers actually complained about the smell. Yup, that stinks. Pun intended. Had these companies acted with conscience, thousands of people could have been spared the expense, health problems and general stress that has accompanied this mess. Not to mention the courts’ time that will be used to help in the clean-up. 

FYI—we  are not talking small numbers here. There are some 36,000 homes, according to media reports, affected by the dodgy drywall in Florida alone, and possibly as many as 100,000 nationwide, including California, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, and Louisiana. (More problems for the people in the beleaguered Gulf states.)

But let’s get back to the Seifarts for a moment. Two years and $700,000 later—that’s the money they have so far shelled out on repairs to their five bedroom, five bathroom pad—the estimated market value of their house is currently about $200,000.

That’s if they could sell it given the stigma that Chinese drywall carries. Be honest—would you buy a house that had contained sulphur-infected drywall in its original build? 

So even though the Seifarts have gutted their house and are rebuilding, and have been awarded $2.5 million to help them recover—they may be stuck. 

It also remains to be seen whether or not the Seirfarts actually collect their settlement. Just recently, seven Virginia homeowners were awarded $2.6 million by a federal judge, as settlement of their Chinese Drywall suit, but because the manufacturer—Taishsan Gypsum Co did not take part in the proceedings, the verdict is in limbo, as are the homeowners.  

Let’s hope the Seifart’s verdict will make a difference.

Tags: chinese drywall

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