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Senator Quinn
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Senator Julie Quinn - District
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Major deadline in suit on drywall
By Aaron
Kessler
November 5, 2009
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.
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Note from the
sender:
Greetings:
I wanted to send this out to make sure all those
affected by tainted Chinese drywall knew about
the Dec 2nd deadline to "shortcut" the complaint
filing against Knauf. If you have Knauf
manufactured drywall, they are allowing a
shortcut of sorts in filing a complaint against
them. Details are in the article to the right.
I recommend that you contact your attorney for
their recommended course of action.
I will be sending out some notes of the
Symposium later in a separate email.
Howard Ehrsam, EI, CDP, LEED AP
Chinese Drywall Screening, LLC
411 SW Silver Palm Cove
Port St Lucie, FL 34986
O: 772-224-8660
C: 772-201-0006
F: 772-409-5948
www.twitter.com/CDS_Howard
www.chinesedrywallscreening.com
CGC 1509717
|
Origin & Implications of Malodorous Gases in
Knauf Tianjin Drywall
(October 4, 2009)
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CPSC Imported Drywall Fact Sheet
(September 23, 2009)
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Residents Plead for Action in Town Hall Meeting
on Chinese Drywall
(September 16, 2009)
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Northshore Town Hall Meeting Focuses on Chinese
Drywall
(September 15, 2009) |
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