For the thousands of American’s whose homes were built or remodeled using defective Chinese drywall there may be a bit of sunshine peeking over the horizon.
Earlier this month a federal judge from New Orleans signed off on a small but extremely important settlement concerning Chinese drywall litigation.
Although the settlement approved by Judge Eldon Fallon only applies to 300 hundred of the thousands of affected homes, it could lay the fundamental groundwork for a full resolution of thousands of pending homeowners’ lawsuits.
As terms of the agreement, Knauf Plasterboard Tainjin, a well known Chinese drywall manufacturer, along with importers and distributors of the product have agreed to replace defective drywall, as well as all electrical wiring, gas tubing and appliances in the 300 homes covered under the settlement.
In addition to paying for remediation, the defendants have also agreed to pay for relocation expenses while the home is being remediated.
The settlement does not address any alleged health issues associated with Chinese drywall and plaintiffs are not required to relinquish their rights to health claims as part of the agreement.
Many are hoping that this agreement will provide the template for a full settlement, and I for one, am cautiously optimistic it will.
Hopefully we will soon be able to put this whole fiasco behind us, and the good hardworking Americans affected by this disaster will be able to move on with their lives.
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