Defective Product Laws Protect Consumers

Miami, FLWhen it comes to making purchases, you are probably very careful about avoiding defective products. After all, who wants to spend hard earned money only to wind up with a defective product personal injury? Surely no one out there would purposely spend money on a product that is known to be seriously flawed—and yet, there are still a lot of defective product claims against a variety of companies. The reason? Many of those defects don't appear until well after the product has been purchased and any chance for a return has long since expired.

When it comes to spending money, there might be no single more important purchase than that of a home. It can be a costly purchase but one that can yield returns on the investment—either through many years spent living in the home or a high resale value—assuming that the home is not a defective product. Unfortunately, homeowners in Florida and other states are finding out that their homes may include defective Chinese drywall, which not only impacts the resale value of the homes—or at the least, cost a lot in repairs—but might also be causing health problems and damage to other property.

Homeowners say their home smells of rotten eggs, copper piping has eroded too quickly, copper wiring and light switches are damaged and jewelry is turning black. Some people claim that it has affected their health and the health of their children. Some have paid for repairs to their home while others have moved and now pay for both their mortgage and rent.

Lawsuits have been filed alleging the drywall is defective. Some estimates put the total cost of repairs to homes with the Chinese drywall at $1 trillion.

However, the defective product does not have to be as expensive as a home to warrant contacting a defective products injury attorney. Even small items can cause serious harm if they are not built properly.

One lawsuit, filed against Hewlett Packard, alleges that a defective computer overheated and exploded, resulting a house fire. The plaintiffs say they lost their home and had to live in a trailer because of the fire. Furthermore, they argue Hewlett Packard placed a dangerous and defective product on the market.

If a product has been designed or manufactured improperly and the defect in that product causes you or someone you love harm, then you may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the party (or parties) responsible for the design and manufacture of that product. However, such lawsuits can be complex and often require an experienced attorney to deal with all the decisions that must be made in such litigation.

For starters, if there is more than one company involved in manufacturing and marketing the product, you need to determine who is to be named in the lawsuit. For example, in the case of the drywall, there is the drywall manufacturer and also the company involved in importing the drywall and constructing the home to consider. If the product was purchased from a third-party (not the company that made the product), should they be liable for damages? If you live in a different state from the defendant (or defendants) named in your lawsuit, where do you file that suit? Is there a possibility for a class action lawsuit or will this suit be filed individually?

No matter how careful consumers are about the products they purchase, there is still a chance of purchasing a defective product. The good news is that there are laws set out to protect consumers in the event that they are harmed by those products.