Yet another class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Florida homeowners plagued by defective Chinese drywall. The lawsuit, which alleges that as many as 30,000 Florida homes may have been built with tainted Chinese drywall, is at least the fourth such claim filed in the state.
Since January, the Florida Health Department has received close to 100 complaints about drywall that has polluted homes with a putrid, “rotten-egg” smell. Many homeowners have also complained that the fumes are causing air conditioning coils and other metals to corrode. The health department has said that most of the homes being investigated were built after 2004, but one home that is the subject of complaints was built in 2001.
The drywall at the center of the complaints was made in China. Usually, drywall is manufactured in the United States, but a shortage between 2004 and 2006 prompted many builders to buy drywall from China. Most of the reported problems stem from drywall imported from China during Florida’s construction boom years of 2004-2005. Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. of China, a subsidiary of German-based manufacturer Knauf Group, is the company at the focus of Florida’s drywall problems.
The latest Chinese drywall suit was filed Monday in Florida’s Southern District of federal court. According to the Associated Press, the suit names homebuilders and supply companies, an importer and several divisions of the Knauf Group as defendants.
The lead plaintiff in the suit is a Homestead real estate agent who purchased a $487,000 home in 2006, the Associated Press said. Because of the drywall, the plaintiff and his family are unable to live in the residence. Fumes from the drywall have caused by the air conditioner and televisions in the home to fail numerous times. According to the Associated Press report, since living in the home, the plaintiff has been diagnosed with sleep apnea, his son has nosebleeds and others in his family have worsening allergies.
This is the fourth Chinese drywall lawsuit filed in Florida in recent months. One of the first was filed in January by the Bonita Springs law firm of Parker Waichman Alonso LLP. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, charges that Knauf Plasterboard and other defendants negligently manufactured and sold the defective drywall, which was “unreasonably dangerous” in normal use because it caused corrosion to air-conditioning and electrical components, and caused coughing and irritation of sinuses, eyes and throats. It goes on to state that, “when combined with moisture in the air, these sulfur compounds create sulfuric acid.”
Jordan Chaikin, an attorney with Parker Waichman, has said that the firm has received more information on the drywall problems, and will likely be amending its complaint to include other defendants. So far, builders known to have used the drywall include Lennar, Taylor Morrison, WCI, Meritage Homes, Ryland Homes, Transeastern and Standard Pacific, Chaikin said.
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March 4th, 2009 at 8:28 am
If Lennar wants to stay in business, it appears they must fix homes with defective drywall or ,as I see it, mortgage companies will probably refuse to finance Lennar built homes. Of course, the homeowners alternative would be to let the mortgage company foreclose on the home. Mortgage foreclosures based upon defective drywall would definitely be against any builders best interest.
March 5th, 2009 at 7:25 am
this whole drywall scare is getting out of hand and it needs to be resolved QUICK!
March 19th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
if you are someone who has either built a house of had repairs done around the time of katrina or charlie the board from china is in your home i will make a bet that you will eventually smell what everyone else is…think its a scare? good luck to you. I believe that the manf. should some how be held responsible.
Going after the builder I think is just climbing the first branch to the solution.
How come nothing is said about home depot or lowes about the board they sold? I know we have fingers…point them in the right dir. clowns!!
A drywall finisher for 25yrs.
March 21st, 2009 at 2:44 am
We have been having respitory problems in our home for a long while. After Charlie I bought dry wall at home depot to repair 2 bathrooms that were damaged. We did the work ourself. We have had an order in our home that we have been trying to cover up and never put the 2 togather. my husband has had a heart transplant and I think that his could be part of the problem. Not the transplant but the respitory problems of everyone in the home. and I am woried that this could effect his heart transplant. Could this be the cause?
April 10th, 2009 at 8:17 am
In response to Jay, the drywall finisher…Home Depot does not, nor never has bought its’ drywall from China. Our supplier is National Gypsum and the product is produced here in the United States.
April 11th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Jerry..
Are you sure and can you confirm with evidence Home Depot never bought their drywall during the shortage from China? I am sure now and before shortage they did not, but what about that 4 year shortage. I used Home Depot drywall in 2007. My house has struggled with the sulfur smell during the AZ Summer storms, when the ac is on and the weather is humid. Some members of my family also suffered respitory problems/infection, my 10 yr old chronic nose bleeds for about a year after the remodel, I even had a still born baby during that time. HOW CAN YOU BE ABSOLUTELY SURE it was not sold there. I will re-drywall if this is the case.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I built our house with all materials bought from Home Depot and I could not figure out what this odor was! When I asked home depot what on earth could cause this stench and cause all the copper wiring and copper plumbing in the house to turn black they said they didn’t have a clue. Well now we know that YES HOME DEPOT imported the drywall and sold it for top dollar to all of us unsuspecting home builders all over the country because I live in lil ole Clarksville Indiana.
April 13th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
We bought 12 sheets of 1/2 inch drywall in Fall 2002 from Home Depot in Dalton, GA (NW Georgia near Chattanooga) to continue finishing our basement. We’ve been wondering for about 7 months now why our house smelled so bad. Home Depot continues to deny they sold this stuff. Why does our house smell like sulfur then? It comes and goes.
August 10th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
I Nina Ortega would like to make a commet. I had rented a house at 4233 Overture Cir. Bradenton,fl. 34209 ( PALMA SOLO TRACE) Dates 3-15-08 to 3-31-09. I have a 14 yr old daughter and compltely healthy until 2 months after we moved out. Head achs,fevers,couph,and now has seisures she is on medication for 2 yrs. could this be related?????
October 15th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
If home depot or Lowe’s did not sell this product???? Who else sells this much drywall board????
I know they are lying due to installing it in my home I built. But the thing that I think is not letting it get so bad is it had taken me 3 years just to prime all the drywall so it had time to breath but the smell is still very much there.
The one room smells like a dogs breath after waking up and we cannot get the odor out including windows open and fan blowing out at all times except at night.
All my drywall was purchased at home depot and Lowe’s. Who else sells it?? Drywall depot.
I still have sheets of all the different types of the drywall I used and there is a difference on some of them. some were soft and some were very hard to cut and to break.
I’m very poor now and two out of three of my kids has autism One very serious with non verbal autistic and one with asperger’s and the one we thought is normal is having to take things due to temper problems.
so I do not have the time or the money to fix this and with my health going down hill were just going to have to live with problem.
just like every other bad thing that happens to our family.
Just remember some body has to suffer out there were just the ones very often.
Altamonte Springs Fl, 32714
Thank you.
Dane J D.
dane_774@ yahoo.com
October 27th, 2009 at 8:58 am
When are we, as Americans, going to stop purchasing ANYTHING from China. Many food products are coming from there, as well, and I, for one, am FED UP. We need to support American made products…PERIOD!!!!! ASK QUESTIONS AND REFUSE TO BUY CHINESE MADE PRODUCTS!!!