Knauf Gips claims that Knauf Plasterboard Tinjian, its subsidiary, produced the defective drywall and therefore should be the entity financially responsible.
However, documents filed in Germany and in United States courts show that Knauf Gips is strongly involved in the management of its subsidiaries, which includes quality control, finding raw materials, and dealing with the issues arising from the defective Chinese drywall.
Steven Glickerstien, one of Knauf Tinjian’s attorneys here in the US has stated, “Each Corporation is a separate legal entity, responsible only for its sales and its own profits.”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission Drywall Information Center website states that they have “received about 3,526 reports from residents in 38 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico who believe their health symptoms or the corrosion of certain metal components in their homes are related to problem drywall.”
Concerned your home may have defective Chinese drywall? Visit our website at www.ChineseDrywallClaims.com and download your free copy of “The Five Step Chinese Drywall Investigation,” and do your own inspection. Have questions? Contact our Chinese drywall Attorneys Toll Free 877-544-5323
A Chinese drywall town hall meeting was held in Newport News, VA last night with representatives from the CPSC.
According to Wavy.com, representative Jay Howell went over a the steps that the Consumer Product Safety Commission has taken over the last year in testing the defective drywall, as well as drafting remediation guidelines.
There were questions concerning water safety, health problems, and foreclosure but there seemed to be no answers.
“There were no representatives from the Health Department or the Centers for Disease Control in the meeting. Del. Glenn Oder (R-Newport News) who co-hosted the event said he would reach out to those agencies for future meetings.”
Homeowners were not the only ones present last night. Renters who signed leases in homes who have discovered that they have defective Chinese drywall also attended the meeting. There concern seemed to be focused on getting out of the situation without ruining their credit.
In what is being thought of by many legal experts as a “small victory” for insurers, the ruling last week is sparking much conversation. (View the source article here: “Drywall damage not covered for Va. Beach man, from The Virginian-Pilot, provided by hamptonroads.com)
U.S. District Judge, Robert G. Doumar ruled last week that the policy which existed between a homeowner and TravCo. Insurance Company does not cover damages caused by defective Chinese drywall. The problematic issue for the homeowner in the case was reportedly specific exclusions that were in the policy. While the case might be disheartening upon first glance for homeowners across the country, this area of law is in flux, as courts are coming down on both sides regarding this particular issue.
The homeowner in this case requested his insurance company fix his Chinese drywall problem. His appliances were malfunctioning and other electronics were corroding and ceasing to work. According to the Pilot, legal experts believe the decision is binding only on this specific homeowner’s situation and policy. There is the chance that other courts in other jurisdictions may very well rule differently on insurance policies and their relation to Chinese drywall damage.
The insurance companies facing mounting claimants pointing to dangerous drywall are paying close attention to how case law develops. While insurance companies involved in litigation will presumptively utilize this case to their advantage, other cases exist where the judge has sided with homeowners. For example, a recent case in Louisiana ruled that the homeowner’s policy did have to cover the damages his home sustained resulting from Chinese drywall, because the exclusions in the policy were not meant to disallow persons from filing claims regarding products that cause or “emit” pollution. Compare this with the case relied upon in the instant case by Judge Doumar – a case allowing avoidance of liability because the contaminants in a water supply came from another source – and it seems to be apparent that that case involved a much less scrupulous contaminant. Chinese drywall, unlike water, would enable the maker, distributor, builder, even possibly insurer to be more likely to know of the defect. In addition, defective drywall causes harm by its emission; invisible particles disperse through the air, whereas contaminated water only produces its effects once “used” voluntarily.
Regarding the uncertainty of law in this area, the Virginian-Pilot noted how Judge Doumar expressed the ambiguities: “The judge acknowledged that the exclusions used by the insurer to deny coverage had been the subject of numerous court cases and that different courts in different states had reached different conclusions.” (click here for source article).
Norfolk attorney Richard J. Serpe represented the homeowner in this case and plans to appeal. He told the Pilot that “”The language of these policies is so confusing that you’re going to have a dozen judges going off in different directions,” Serpe said. “Under Virginia law, an ambiguity goes in favor of the policy holder.”
Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd, the Chinese drywall manufacturer that was ordered to pay $2.6 Million in damages to seven Virginia homeowners, has for the first time yesterday responded to the lawsuit with an appeal.
In April, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, who is overseeing the Chinese drywall multi-district litigation process in the Eastern District of Louisiana, awarded $2,609,129.99 for seven families affected by tainted drywallmanufactured by the Chinese-controlled company – Taishan. If you missed that article, view it here.
“Because Taishan never responded to lawsuits, Fallon entered a default judgement against the company last fall. The company’s appeal and notice of appearance this week renewed hope that the company might eventually pay damages to local homeowners” (Virginian-Pilot).
Recently the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Drywall Information Center released a list of drywall manufacturers whose drywall produced high levels of hydrogen sulfide during testing. View the list here.
Judge Fallon awarded these damages based upon the relatively expensive and wide scope of remediating these homes.
A Miami-Dade jury is in the process of hearing (and deciding) how much a family should receive in the way of monetary figures, dollars, money – for the devastation that Chinese drywall inflicted upon the place they once called home. The source article is available here, from the Miami Herald.
According to the article, some of the first known occasions of something being “wrong” with the drywall at issue in the trial transpired back in 2006, when some sheets of drywall were being delivered to a home in the Coconut Grove community. Questions were raised as to the foul smelling odor the product was seemingly giving off. Days passed, and finally Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin notified Banner Supply, a Miami company, not to sell the product. Unfortunately, that notice came too late.
The drywall was installed in the home that the article references, as being located in Coconut Grove. The attorney for the couple that purchased the home told the jury this week that there was indeed adequate time to stop installing the drywall, and to halt the process. The bottom line is that the drywall did end up in the home.
This case is significant in that it is the first jury trial in the nation regarding drywall that is allegedly defective, and was sourced from China. During opening statements, the Miami Herald reported that the attorney for the couple stated, “Banner [the supply company] had the knowledge. They had the power. Instead they used it to protect themselves.” A brief video was then shown to demonstrate broadly, and to give jurors an overview, of how the emissions from the drywall devastated and ravished the family’s home. The plaintiffs in this case suffered damages that included the refrigerator, air conditioner, wire damages and more.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has been up to its ears with complaints – over 3,300 thus far – regarding Chinese drywall. Thousands of cases have been filed. If you or someone you know believes the home they live in was constructed with Chinese drywall, they ought to ascertain whether it was built with it in fact. Consulting an attorney is one way to check, as well-versed lawyers such as Richard J. Serpe, in Norfolk Virginia for example, have devoted hours upon hours of research into the issue specifically.
Louisiana homeowners how are facing dire economic times, in light of the Chinese drywall crisis (following the heels of Hurricane Katrina, and in the wake of the ongoing oil disaster, mind you) and many hope for relief in the insurance arena, from the Louisiana House of Representatives.
A bill that would prevent insurance companies from failing to renew or canceling clients who file Chinese drywall-related claims has progressed to the full House.
As reported by ifawebnews, (read source article here), The Louisiana Senate approved the original bill last month. (SB 595). The House Insurance Committee then rewrote it. Thus, the bill will go back to the Senate if the above-mentioned House of Representatives approves it. While complicated as it may seem, the process is underway and the bill is looking good.
The article cites the New Orleans Times-Picayune as reporting that some insurers have tried to amend the bill. One such amendment sought to strike a portion of the bill that would require reinstatement of dropped policyholders within 30 days at the same level of service, or “condition,” as existed before the client faced termination.
At the present time, the bill would prevent insurers from canceling or failing to renew with regard to one factor: the presence of drywall from China, installed before December 31, 2009. Insurance companies should not fret or panic, as the bill would not cause them financial ruin. The current bill’s terms would expire in mid-2013; thus the bill is seemingly designed to remedy the problems homeowners are currently facing, as opposed to focusing its aim on Chinese drywall broadly (as in, Chinese drywall installed at any date).
It can be said that Louisiana has seen its share of issues, upon reflecting on the last decade. First it was Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans, then the Chinese drywall crisis became apparent, as its cumulative effect has affected thousands of homeowners across the country. Now with the BP oil spill, the region’s economy, homeowners, and residents are suffering.
The Chinese drywall crisis – while stemming from the Hurricane season of 2004 and 2005 (and primarily causing a drywall shortage from the massive Hurricane Katrina) – has affected homeowners across the country. Florida has also been a state where much concern has been raised about toxic drywall from China, and recently a Miami-Dade Circuit Judge approved class-action status for a case brought by a couple who purchased their home in 2008.
The first class action lawsuit regarding Chinese drywall is reported by the Miami Herald (click here for source article), to include up to 152 families, from three (3) Homestead neighborhoods. The class-action status decision.
Class-action status is significant legally, in that plaintiffs (those who suffered harm) can benefit by being considered a “class” or a group rather than having to file a lawsuit for each home affected. This “class-action” status obviously alleviates administrative burdens on the court system as well.
Homeowners will receive a notice in the mail, pursuant to the rules of the court system, regarding whether they would like to join the suit.
Still other communities exist across the country where neighborhoods may deserve class-action status. How those situations play out, and how the judges will rule in those scenarios, will be reported on as soon as developments are available.
On Tuesday, May 25th the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Drywall Information Center released a list of drywall manufacturers whose drywall produced high levels of hydrogen sulfide during testing. They stated, “There is a strong association between hydrogen sulfide and metal corrosion.”
After testing they were able to determine the top ten samples which released the highest levels of hydrogen sulfide gases. The top ten were all drywall samples made in China. Some of the emissions rates were documented at 100 times higher that drywall not produced in China.
The top ten included:
Knauf Plasterboard (Tianjin) Co. Ltd.: (year of manufacture 2005) China
Taian Taishan Plasterboard Co. Ltd.: (2006) China
Shandong Taihe Dongxin Co.: (2005) China
Knauf Plasterboard (Tianjin) Co. Ltd.: (2006) China
Taian Taishan Plasterboard Co. Ltd.: (2006) China
Taian Taishan Plasterboard Co. Ltd.: (2006) China
Shandong Chenxiang GBM Co. Ltd. (C&K Gypsum Board): (2006) China
Beijing New Building Materials (BNBM): (2009) China
In a pivotal development, a Chinese manufacturer has settled its first suit – Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. settled just days ago, on Friday. Read the source article, from CBS, here.
The settlement was reached with a homebuilder in Atlanta, Beazer Homes USA, inc. The settlement was reportedly first made known from an email sent by the law firm representing Knauf. The article from CBS states that more information will be released to the public in coming days.
Knauf is facing numerous lawsuits from homeowners that claim the drywall installed within their home is defective. Allegedly, the drywall causes corrosion, foul odors, and other issues including potentially health-related symptoms. But Knauf is not the only company that has faced allegations of dealing in defective drywall. Other businesses have been scrutinized (and will continue to be so), such as importers, exporters, builders, and so on. The magnitude of the issue, monetarily speaking, is enormous. The potential devastation to an already thrashed housing market is a scary thought.
Thechinesedrywalllawyer.com has been covering the multidistrict litigation taking place in New Orleans, as well as developments as they have become available. One of the primary federal agencies addressing the defective drywall issue is the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which has received over 3,000 complaints to date.
Thus far, plaintiffs have been relatively successful in court. Judge Eldon Fallon ruled that Knauf must pay damages just over $160,000 to one family in Louisiana. In addition, the same court held that seven Virginia homeowners were entitled to a combined total of over $2.6 million.
According to CBS, the email from Knauf lawyer included the statement, “the settlement with Beazer is part of [Knauf's] effort to get this issue behind them and move forward.” The settlement shows at least some willingness to correct problems, which can provide at least some hope that other Chinese manufacturers will cooperate in future proceedings.
