Posts Tagged ‘ chinese drywall ’

Chinese Drywall: Happy New Year!

September 6th, 2009. By AbiK

You can either choose to look at it as glass half-full, or glass half-empty. I’m betting that folks who’ve been living in the hell known as Chinese drywall have been looking at it as glass all-the-way empty and are somewhat numb by now to any developments in this story.

The latest is that now we have a target date for the inaugural Chinese drywall case going to court: January 2010.

U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon told lawyers this week that he’s looking for them to select six plaintiffs whose cases will begin to be heard early next year. For anyone who’s been keeping Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall
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Chinese Drywall not radioactive after all

August 24th, 2009. By AbiK

We recently posted about some early news reports that indicated Chinese drywall could potentially be radioactive—luckily for folks who’ve been suffering through the defective drywall debacle, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida State Department of Health—both of whom were asked to test the drywall by the US Consumer Safety Commission—found no unusual levels of radioactivity in the drywall.

According to The Miami Herald (8/22/09), traces of radioactive material were found, but they were not at levels that would be any higher “than found in the natural environment”.

Good news, but perhaps a moot point anyway if you’ve already been forced out of your home.

Tags: chinese drywall
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Chinese Drywall, Foreclosure and…Mosquitoes

August 14th, 2009. By AbiK

A lot of the news lately on the Chinese drywall situation is unfortunately inextricably entangled with the economic downturn. The problem? Foreclosures. Unfortunately for those who’ve found themselves underwater on the value (or lack thereof) of their home, the addition of a Chinese drywall problem only exacerbates things-not only can they no longer afford their homes, but they can’t unload them either given the defective drywall. 

The situation reminded me of an article I had read back in March in National Geographic. The article, “Mosquito Hosts”, focused on some homes in foreclosure in Maricopa County, Arizona—homes that had been vacated and have pools in their yards. 

At issue was that in the absence of being able to afford their homes, the homes had been left unoccupied and the last thing on homeowners’ minds was pool maintenance. So, of course, the resulting green, algae-filled pools sat there effectively putting out an “Open House!” sign for mosquitoes to come on in.  Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall
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Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act: Yeah, right

August 13th, 2009. By AbiK

So Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) introduced a bill calling for new legislation regarding products that are manufactured abroad—and found to be defective or cause injury here. No doubt the impetus for their bill has been the Chinese drywall situation. Let’s face it, for those who’ve been affected by the defective drywall, it’s been an uphill battle to get accountability where it belongs—upstream in the supply chain to where the drywall was manufactured: China.

Oh sure, there’s been cooperation with Chinese officials. And everyone’s got studies going on to determine the root cause of the rotten egg smell and the corrosion of air conditioning coils and all. But here’s the thing—who’s going to pay? And on that note, not only is no one eager to raise their hand and shout, “Me, Me, Me—I’ll pay!”, everyone also knows it’s a prayer in you-know-what to try and enforce payment—especially if it’s supposed to be coming from China. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall
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Chinese Drywall & Sean Payton: take ’em to court baby

August 7th, 2009. By AbiK

We’ve been tracking Sean Payton’s Chinese drywall fiasco—he’s one of the few celebs who’s been notably hit by the defective drywall; We also just posted on Larry Kosakowski’s desperation call to President Obama—what else do you do when you don’t feel you’re getting any help?

This week, neworleans.com reporter Dave Lawrence conducted a post-morning practice interview with Sean Payton. Given that it’s local media—Payton’s the head coach of the New Orleans Saints—the interview questions ran the gamut from football to Chinese drywall and beyond. The most interesting aspect of Payton’s responses on the topic were his own feeling of helplessness—that he’s moved his family out of his house, removed all the defective drywall at his own expense, has been renting at another location (at his expense), and he’s still waiting like everyone else for some resolution on the situation.

Most telling quote from Payton on the Chinese drywall debacle?

“Your only recourse really is litigation.”

Hey, don’t take it from me, take it from Sean Payton—he’s living it. And if you’re considering contacting a lawyer for a consultation, the sooner the better.

Tags: chinese drywall, chinese sheetrock
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