U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon has announced a settlement agreement with the German manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., which means that thousands of Gulf Coast homeowners will be able to have their homes repaired.

According to the Herald-Tribune, the settlement agreement calls for an uncapped fund to pay for the repairs of 4,500 properties mostly in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

Their will be a separate fund set aside for $30 million which will pay for other losses which include defective drywall related health problems.

ABC News reports that homeowners will have the option of:

1. having the settlement’s appointed contractor to repair their home
2. hiring their own credible contractor or
3. taking a cash payment

A $200 million deposit will be placed into a repairs fund, which will be replenished as needed. Attorney’s fees and costs will be capped at $160 million and will not come out of the homeowners’ portion of their settlement.

The settlement will not go into effect until the deal is approved and signed by Judge Fallon.  The approval of the deal could happen as early as January, however it may still be several months before the money reaches homeowners.

A settlement between the drywall manufacturer Knauf Group and homebuilders who used defective Chinese drywall will result in 800 – 1500 homes being repaired in Gulf states, according to the WashingtonPost.   The settlement will involve reimbursements to builders for homes that have already been repaired, are currently being repaired, and those awaiting repair.

NOLA.com reports, as many as 100 homes in Louisiana could be covered under this agreement. The agreement is most likely to affect major local builders who built homes after Katrina with the ctive Chinese drywall.

The settlement will include homes built with Knauf defective Chinese drywall in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

The program will not help homes built with defective Chinese drywall by Taishan Gypsum Co.

On Monday, Broward County Circuit Judge Charles Greene, ruled that victims of defective Chinese drywall can file a separate lawsuit against the Miami-based distributor Banner Supply Co. if they are not satisfied with the $54 million Banner class settlement.  The Banner class settlement affects about 2,000 Florida homeowners, however the number of victims across the south who are entitled a share of the class  settlement is still unclear.

According to BizJournals.com, Judge Green’s order says that every plaintiff must file a notice about whether to be included in the settlement class or not.

Colson Hicks Edison, a Coral Gables-based law firm who is handling the settlement has warned that additional lawsuits against Banner Supply Co would cause the company into bankruptcy.  Ervin Gonzalez, an Attorney at Colson Hicks Edison, believes that it is unwise to opt out of the settlement.  On the other hand, Miami attorneys David Durkee and Victor Diaz believe that the class settlement will not provide enough money to each victim to repair their homes.

Banner Supply Co. supports the class settlement but opposes the option to opt out because this will mean more individual lawsuits for the company.  Banner is also suing the German company Knauf Gips for $100 million, alleging they knew about the odor and corrosive nature of the drywall.

According to the Washington Post,  A Florida building supply company, Banner Supply Co., filed a lawsuit against the drywall manufacturer Knauf Gips.

The German manufacturer is being sued for $100 million over defective Chinese drywall.  Banner Supply Co. alleges that Knauf Gips made false claims about the quality of the drywall.

Banner Supply Co., supplied most of the Chinese drywall in Florida.   Banner Supply’s insurance companies decided to release the policy limits for 3 years resulting in approximately $61 million and they agreed to pay $54.5 million to settle about 2,000 claims in Florida.

According to WinkNews, Cape Coral city officals are waiving building permit fees that are associated with repairing homes with defective chinese drywall which could potentially save homeowners hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. 

Currently they are estimating that there are about 2,000 homes that could have been built with Chinese drywall.  The city hopes that this will help prevent people from walking away from their homes.

The waivers apply to:

• Homes that were built from January 2003 through December 2010
• The homeowner must be the original owner of the home

“We can only deal with the people who are the first time owners and never attempted to walk away or give up on their home,” according to Cape Councilmen Chulakes-Leetz

Tuesday a Chinese drywall class-action lawsuit was settled for $54.5 million, which will cover the remediation of 2,000 to 3,000 homes in Florida.

According to the Miami Herald, Miami based supplier Banner Supply sold 1.4 million sheets of contaminated Chinese drywall to builders in Florida and has agreed to pay these homeowners in the settlement.

According to a News-Press.com article, Florida  homeowners waiting for their homes to be repaired under the Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Chinese drywall pilot program are becoming restless.

The program began October 14, 2010 and it has now been 8 months with 14 homes completed. There are currently 249 homes that have been chosen to be repaired under the program, with a target number of 300.

Meanwhile, Florida homeowners who have signed contracts but whose homes have yet to undergo repair are feeling uneasy about the lack of control they have over the process. During the first step of the program contractors, as many as 30, may enter the home to assess and place bids on repair work. This process has upset several homeowners as these contractors will come into their homes without saying anything and begin taking measurements, opening doors, and taking pictures. Often times they will do this before the Moss representative has arrived to monitor the process.

In addition, the contract states that during renovation, Knauf will not allow the homeowner to enter the home unless they are accompanied by a representative from the program’s contractor, Moss & Associates.

Moss & Associates believe that they will have another 77 homes either completed or under construction by the end of June.
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A Hillsborough County Circuit Judge ruled that a family’s home damaged by the defective Chinese drywall should be covered by their homeowners insurance policy.

According to an article in the Miami-Herald, Judge Robert Foster said that he found no exclusion in Craig & Melissa Walker’s insurance policy. The Walkers sued the Springfield, IL based company- Teachers Insurance Co. for refusing to cover their damages caused by defective Chinese drywall.

The Judge Foster said that the drywall was not “defective” because it served its purpose as drywall, however it also emits a corrosive gas. The policy covers smoke damage, and Judge Foster interpreted smoke to be the same as gas.

“The court finds that the ordinary meaning as found in a Merriam-Webster dictionary, defines ‘smoke’ as a ‘suspension of particles in a gas.’ “

He went on to say, “The court has applied the definition that allows coverage, which is at least as reasonable as the definition that might exclude coverage.”

The amount of money to be paid to the Walkers will be determined by a jury in a later trial.

According to WSVN.com, Eleanor Aguilar was able to move back into her townhome last Friday after the Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin remediation was complete.  She was forced out of her home nearly two months ago due to the infestation of toxic Chinese drywall in her Lauderhill, Florida townhome.  Aguliar being part of the Chinese drywall lawsuit was chosen as one of the 300 homes to be part of the Knauf remediation pilot program.

The Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin pilot program will determine if it is more practical for the company to repair the Chinese drywall homes, or to give homeowners a pay-out.

According to a Knauf spokesperson, currently there are 30 homes in remediation and over 100 lined up to be repaired.

According to an article in SunSentinal.com, the first home in the Chinese drywall pilot program has begun its scheduled remediation today.

Eleanor Aguilar found out almost 2.5 years ago that her home was made with toxic Chinese drywall manufactured by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin. Her three story townhouse in Lauderhill, Florida will now be the first of an estimated 300 to be repaired under the Chinese drywall pilot program.

There are around 30 homes in the Broward and Palm Beach counties that are expected to be added to the program. The pilot program was set to repair about 300 homes in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

These homes are essentially being stripped down to the studs, and all building materials affected by the toxic Chinese drywall will be removed and replaced. Knauf will pay for the repairs, pay for temporary housing and, give cash settlements of $8.50 per square foot for moving expenses.

Some builders in Florida, such as Sunrise-based GL Homes, have agreed to fix these homes at no cost, while some homeowners have decided to do the repairs themselves, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Who Qualifies for the Program? You must be part of the nationwide Chinese drywall class action lawsuit, and a majority of the home must have been manufactured by Knauf.

Eleanor Aguilar and her family should be back in their home by Mother’s Day.