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cmkavala
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| 11/06/2009 1:11 PM |
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For affected consumers I came across this on a contractor's forum:
Homeowners in Florida and across the country whose homes were built with contaminated Chinese drywall manufactured by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. will have a serious decision to make -- and quickly.
One of the biggest challenges for those attempting to sue Knauf Tianjin and other Chinese drywall makers has been the enormous burden of formally serving the company with their lawsuits in China. Doing so is needed to proceed with a case.
But a deal struck this week by the company and attorneys representing homeowners in the multidistrict litigation being heard in New Orleans means the drywall maker has temporarily agreed to waive those laborious requirements.
The catch: Homeowners have to sign up by Dec. 2 if they want to be included.
That is because an omnibus class-action-style complaint is being drafted, and it is only that complaint that Knauf Tianjin has agreed to accept.
"It's a one-time opportunity, and it gives the parties who wish to join in that complaint an opportunity to have service accepted, rather than to have to go through the Hague convention, which as we know it is costly and time-consuming," said Judge Eldon E. Fallon, who is overseeing the litigation, during a conference call on Wednesday. Fallon gave his blessing to the deal as a way to prevent further delays.
Kerry Miller, the liaison counsel for the defendants and who also represents Knauf, said the company had no plans to make such an offer again: "It is my client's intention to accept service only one time."
The deadline leaves only weeks for homeowners on the fence to make up their minds. While many already have filed suits, many others have not, preferring to take a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, some are just realizing they have a problem, with more homes being discovered every week.
Just last month, for example, two homes with Knauf Tianjin drywall were discovered in local home builder Lee Wetherington's Willow Chase development in Nokomis.
Scott Weinstein, a Fort Myers attorney who sits on the Plaintiff's Steering Committee, said time is of the essence.
"It's imperative for any consumer who knows or believes that he or she has Knauf Tianjin drywall to get into the system now," Weinstein said.
"They need to document the presence of the drywall now, so they can meet the deadline."
Darren Inverso, who represents Lakewood Ranch homeowner Kristin Culliton, said she and other clients who have Knauf Tianjin drywall will be joining the omnibus complaint.
Despite the publicity about Chinese drywall, not all homeowners even know about it, and the upcoming season may bring in a crop of snowbirds returning to their homes for the first time since learning of the issue.
For now, though, the omnibus complaint may be the best chance for affected owners to move forward. The consolidated complaint will resemble a class-action in style, but will not at this point involve a certified class, Weinstein said. Instead, it will include each individual homeowner with Knauf Tianjin.
"We intend to answer each of these claimants as individuals," he said. "We realize this is not one of these common cases where the loss is five dollars or two dollars."
Meanwhile, in Washington on Wednesday a bipartisan group of six U.S. senators from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia introduced a resolution calling on lenders to offer affected homeowners a temporary freeze on their mortgage payments.
The proposal was sponsored by both Florida Senators, Bill Nelson and George LeMieux, marking the first public action by LeMieux on the issue since he took office earlier this year. While Nelson has largely led the charge, LeMieux's predecessor, Mel Martinez, had essentially been absent from the debate prior to his retirement.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091105/ARTICLE/911051056/2107/BUSINESS?Title=Major-deadline-in-suit-on-drywall
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips dot com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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Jelly
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| 11/08/2009 9:50 PM |
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I've been waiting for this thread to begin.
So how do you make sure you don't get a fresh load of tainted drywall when you build your new house? Obviously one wouldn't want to buy from Knauf-Tianjin, but I understand National Gypsum (domestic manufacturer) is having problems with tainted drywall, too. |
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cmkavala
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| 11/09/2009 5:46 AM |
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Jelly;
drywall origin is stamped on backside; although there are hundreds of thousand of sheets currently warehoused. I don't think any of it is still making its way into the market place.
Buy American! |
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips dot com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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Jelly
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| 11/09/2009 8:57 AM |
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National Gypsum is an American manufacturer having the same problems.
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cmkavala
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| 11/09/2009 4:21 PM |
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Posted By Jelly on 11/09/2009 8:57 AM
National Gypsum is an American manufacturer having the same problems.
Acoording to them they are not...........
National Gypsum Company, one of the nation’s largest wallboard producers, is not part of the current construction problem involving imported wallboard.
National Gypsum’s wallboard operations are exclusively in the United States. The company has never imported wallboard, never rebranded wallboard, and never distributed imported wallboard.
The nexus of the current imported wallboard issues is Florida. National Gypsum has produced wallboard in the state for 50 years with no problems and, since 2001, has produced nine billion square feet of wallboard in the state. National Gypsum wallboard has never exhibited any of the characteristics of the imported board in question.
It is not unusual for a home to have more than one brand of wallboard in it. Typically, for residential installations, distributors will get an order for a particular size and type of wallboard and send what is available in their warehouses.
National Gypsum wallboard is clearly marked by “end tapes” which are removed before the drywall is hung. The plant code and the date and time of production along with the company name are also printed on the back of the board. It is easy to identify National Gypsum board on the face paper, too. National Gypsum board is the only wallboard that has tiny “Xs” printed on the face to provide guides for attaching the board to wall framing.
the chineese drywall is also clearly marked, it is not unusual for a drywall contractor to run short or run over grabbing a few sheets to finish a job may have come off a chineese supplied job on to a National Gypsum job mixing both boards an a project.
Check the back of the board when delivered to job before it gets installed
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips dot com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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Jelly
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| 11/09/2009 7:17 PM |
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Here is the article from this site referring to National Gypsum.
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cmkavala
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| 11/09/2009 8:05 PM |
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Posted By Jelly on 11/09/2009 7:17 PM Here is the article from this site referring to National Gypsum.
Jelly;
your link leads to another re: misinformation about National Gypsum and imported drywall
http://www.nationalgypsum.com/literature/Chn_drywall.pdf |
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Chris Kavala
chris@southernsips dot com
1-877-321-SIPS |
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