Home builder sets aside large sum of money for drywall warranty September 14, 2009
Take it as a sign of the times, or perhaps an indication of the bona fide existence of the “Chinese drywall problem,” one prominent home builder has set aside a large sum of funds to address homes that it built with potentially dangerous Chinese drywall. The sum of money, $40 million, was listed in a regulatory form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as reported by the PalmBeachPost.
The builder, Lennar Corp., has admitted that it identified around 400 homes in Florida it says were constructed with defective drywall. The company mentioned that the unfortunate homes were built between the years of 2006-07. The common school of thought with regard to this specific timeframe is that following the rash of hurricanes during that particular window of time, materials were hastily manufactured, distributed, and installed in homes. Lennar stated that in order to address the defective materials, $39.8 million has been set aside for warranty purposes. Also in the SEC filings was the fact that Lennar’s insurance has a coverage of about $20 million for damages.
Lennar has filed suit against their sources of material, as lawsuits mount against them in federal and state courts, but is hopeful that repairing the home will halt the state actions. While Florida has been the source of numerous drywall reports and lawsuits, Alabama, Louisiana, and Virginia are other states experiencing the same problem.
Florida media source, NaplesNews, reported that over 15,000 suits have been filed in Florida who allege the Chinese drywall in their homes is releasing such a high concentration of gas that they have experienced an array of medical symptoms.
Posted Under: Drywall in the News,Florida Drywall News Tags: Florida drywall, Lennar, remediation
Reader Comments
Just to complicate the matter, drywall off gassing sulfur and toxic substances has shown up in Las Vegas. There is already a class action here, in a dry climate. While the off gases may not “stink” they are still causing the same health problems and damage to property, according to local news reports.
Two other points have been discussed in Las Vegas press stories on this issue. First, there is apparently a chemical test which can be done to drywall, to see if it has the coal fired power plant fly ash in it, which is the substance blamed for the problems in the “Chinese drywall”. That’s good, because a house doesn’t have to have its walls or ceilings torn off to look at the brand name on the back of the drywall to see if it a Chinese made brand.
The second and more troubling news reports are that at least one well known Southern drywall manufacturer, with drywall manufacturing plants all over the U.S., has been using coal fired power plant fly ash as a chemical component of U.S. made drywall. That is an important fact for litigators in drywall class action cases to pursue during discovery, for the obvious reasons.