Chinese drywall: remediate at own risk?
From The Real Deal
By The Real Deal, Monday, February 22, 2010.Editor's note: This article is reposted with permission by The Real Deal. Click here to view the original article.
By JENNIFER LECLAIRE
As South Florida Chinese drywall lawsuits head to trial in federal court, local construction companies are rushing to market with offers to remediate properties affected by the material.
But legal experts debate whether or not homeowners are signing their legal rights away in exchange for a property that can never be truly remediated.
In late December, Homestead residents Jason and Melissa Harrell saw movement in their lawsuit against Palm Holdings, Banner Supply, South Kendall Construction and Keys Gate Realty over Chinese drywall issues that forced them out of their home in 2006.
Their victory could open the door to a wave of new suits if homeowners don't let builders attempt to remediate, according to Allison Grant, a member of the commercial litigation and construction litigation practice groups at the law firm Shapiro, Blasi, Wasserman & Gora in Boca Raton.
Grant said builders pressured homeowners into contracts to remediate their home from Chinese drywall. Now, she warns homeowners not to buy into the remediation hype -- and speaks from personal experience. Her $200,000 investment property was diagnosed with Chinese drywall. She can't rent the unit, and the property is now appraised at $17,000. Remediation wasn't the answer.
"If you sign a release with the builder, you can't file a lawsuit unless the remediation fails," Grant said. "Most people are never going to be happy even when their homes are fixed. They are always going to think it smells. And who is going to buy the house from them? And where are they going to get insurance?" ...CONTINUED
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Submitted by John Rider on February 22, 2010 - 5:20pm.
"No problem exists without an effective solution"
This has been driven WAY out of context. We feel that documentation is very important IF the defense every pays. This is not likely. We have a cost effective solution that has been tested. www.abshield.net.
Submitted by John Rakoci on February 23, 2010 - 8:18pm.
Chinese products 1st killed & harmed pets, next children were effected, now everyone in a home. Keep saving those few pennies. I prefer to look at labels. A recent trip to Lowes for a stapler used for upholstry netted a surprise. Most staples are provided by Arrow. I found two staplers priced exactly the same. The familiar name of Stanley was on one and PowerShot by Aroow on the other. The Stanley was made in China, the PowerShot made in the USA! I did not test both but the Stanley did not look to be built as well and the PowerShot works like a dream.