Posts Tagged ‘ chinese drywall ’

2009 – That’s a Wrap!

December 29th, 2009. By LucyC

Well, it’s been a busy year for lawyers—and class actions were certainly popular. Employment class actions, comprised of allegations of unpaid overtime and wages and violations of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) were among the most commonly filed lawsuits. Seems there’s no shortage of companies willing to fiddle the math. Even the biggies—Costco, McDonalds, AT&T, Marriott, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, UPS, Starbucks, Dominos Pizza—even Hooters! And I could go on. 

Other hot topics in 2009, included Chinese Drywall.

Who in this part of the world (and presumably China) has not heard of Chinese Drywall by now? Estimates suggest that possibly 100,000 people are affected by this toxic home building product, and on December 9, a federal class action was filed against Knauf Plasterboard Tainjin Co. Ltd. (KPT), one of the primary manufacturers implicated in the debacle. 

Overdraft fees were also a topic close to many peoples’ hearts in 2009. Bank Atlantic was one institution hit with a class action for allegedly manipulating the posting dates of consumer debit card and check transactions so they could make more money on customers’ overdraft fees. 

And speaking of fees, the issuers of prepaid debit cards also had their toes to the fire this year, among them Green Dot Visa for allegedly charging high fees on their ‘prepaid debit cards.’ 

Unfortunately, asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits—individual lawsuits not class actions—remained prominent this year. As more retirees are only now being diagnosed with the asbestos-related Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, chinese drywall, Class Action, Drugs, Employment, Settlement
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Got Knauf Defective Drywall? Get Filing

November 26th, 2009. By AbiK

It’s Thanksgiving, I know. But I also know it’s the type of morning when some of you are trolling the internet getting caught up on all the things you’ve missed over the past week or so. Here’s one you don’t want to miss if you’re dealing with Chinese drywall with “Knauf” stamped on it:

Homeowners who claim problems with defective drywall have until Dec. 2 to file papers for a national class action against Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin.

If you are a homeowner who’s been affected by Knauf defective drywall—and have proof that you have Knauf defective drywall in your home—and you meet the December 2nd deadline for filing a claim, you will be covered in the lawsuit to be filed December 9th.

All others affected by the Chinese drywall debacle are still urged to sumbit a claim—however, this deadline is specifically for those who have Knauf defective drywall in their homes.

Tags: chinese drywall, Knauf
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Drywall Victim Insurance Protection Act: Prayer in H*ll?

November 18th, 2009. By AbiK

While we’re waiting on the Chinese drywall trials to get going in 2010, there’s no shortage of activity on the subject. Just yesterday, a federal bill was filed called the Drywall Victim Insurance Protection Act (sponsored by Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La). Now, if you’re sitting in a home sniffing the sulfuric fumes, that might sound like good news, right? A bill that would prohibit insurers from canceling or altering coverage of homes that contain Chinese drywall sounds like a nice safety net for folks wondering if they’re about to be dropped from their homeowners’ policies. Ah, but there’s a rub…

The issue is that the insurance industry isn’t regulated at the federal level; it’s regulated at the state level. So, as quoted at BradentonHerald.com (11/18/09), Michael Barry, a spokesman for the Insurance Information Institute, stated the proposed bill “would have little or no effect” if passed.

Clearly that’s not what homeowners want to hear.

So why submit a federal bill that will, in effect, be meaningless?

Well, take the case of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. They recently felt the effects of some bad press when they told a Colorado couple with a home in Punta Gorda (with, of course, Chinese drywall) that they weren’t renewing their policy. The news hit the media airwaves bigtime and wouldn’t you know it, Citizens Property reversed the decision to not renew. Translation: the more press, the more results—or so the theory would go.

And clearly that must be the thinking shared by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fl, who was quoted via a spokesman, Bryan Gulley, in the BradentonHerald.com article as stating, “While homeowner insurance largely is governed by state laws, it doesn’t hurt to press wherever possible, and Nelson certainly supports Rep. Melancon’s effort.”

Tags: chinese drywall
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Why Doesn’t US Take a Harder Stand on Sub-Standard Chinese Exports?

September 15th, 2009. By Hunter West

Anyone who wonders why the US doesn’t clamp down harder on China and some of the sorry, dangerous, unsafe crap they export into this country need only remember that the People’s Republic of China owns 24.07 percent of all the US Treasury Securities held by foreigners (as of January, 2009 source: The US Treasury). 

That’s $739.6 billion dollars. And thus, one might speculate, 739.6 billion reasons why Americans have had to put up with substandard tires, lead in painted toys, counterfeit substances in heparin, anti-freeze in toothpaste, and God-knows-what in toxic Chinese drywall.

It’s criminal, what some families are going through. Especially in this economy, which is still in the doldrums with far too many people out of work, it’s that much harder to realize the great American Dream of home ownership. And once you separate the wheat from the chaff and ferret out those who accepted choking mortgages for palaces and estates their income levels suggest they have no business of Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, Chinese imports
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Chinese Drywall: Here doggy, doggy!

September 11th, 2009. By AbiK

There was an article in the Palm Beach Post earlier in the week about…what else? Chinese drywall! Well, you can’t blame the folks in Palm Beach and Broward Counties—it’s a daily nuisance (or worse) they have to live with. But, they might be getting some help—from dogs.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of getting “frisked” by some gnarling, ferocious dogs as you’re tooling through customs in Miami International Airport, you know what dogs are capable of sniffing out. So I’m all for this one.

According to the Palm Beach Post article, defective Chinese drywall can be difficult to locate with real accuracy—and air quality tests don’t necessarily register high levels of sulfur. That one stopped me cold: all the hoopla about “professional” testing of homes for Chinese drywall to date has pretty much focused on air quality tests—and they may not necessarily detect it?

Give it to the dogs!

The article goes on to quote American K-9 president, Mark Mahler, as saying “The more I read about Chinese drywall, the more I’m committed to getting some dogs trained and get them out there to help.” He also noted that dog training could begin in a matter of weeks.

Another little tidbit from Mahler: Dogs’ sense of smell is up to 40x stronger than humans. While humans have about 5 million olfactory cells, dogs average 220 to 250.

Tags: chinese drywall
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