Senator Mark Warner tours Virginia homes built with Chinese drywall October 14, 2009

Sen. Mark Warner, beside the top consumer safety official in the nation, toured homes built with Chinese drywall on Monday, according to the Virginia Pilot.  The primary takeaway point from the tour was the economic implications of remediation.

The Dragas Cos., a Chesapeake and Virginia Beach builder, has announced it will spend about $70,000 per condo.  The concern is based on widespread reports and complaints to various local, state, and federal authorities of illnesses and corrosion of household appliances, jewelry, and electrical systems.  The business is currently involved in an insurance-related dispute in federal court, trying to determine which company should bear the brunt of remediation costs.

Federal agencies are taking action as well.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission is expected to release investigation results soon.  The efforts of the CPSC totaled around $3 million, and is aimed at linking the Chinese made drywall with the illnesses and damages reported.  The agency has expressed concern that Congress needs to provide funds for federal agencies, and to also promote a national plan to help homeowners.  The head of that agency, Inez Tenenbaum, accompanied Warner in Chesapeake – The Hampshires at Greenbrier, in Chesapeake, Virginia.  (These homes were built by the above corporation, Dragas).

As officials and the public await the investigation results pending from the CPSC, there has been a notion by lawmakers to encourage banks and lenders to help homeowners in the interim.

“What we’re going to be doing in the meantime is seeing if we can get some forbearance from the mortgage payments being made because these families are having to continue to pay mortgages on homes that are uninhabitable,” Said Sen. Warner. “Some of the families… are going to have to declare bankruptcy.”