Recently in Chinese Drywall legal news is Judge Eldon Fallon’s goal to try the first Chinese Drywall case by the end of 2009.   While I applaud Judge Fallon for his ambition, and do believe that the issues are time-sensitive and should be litigated quickly and aggressively, I think the promise is an empty one.

Trying a Chinese Drywall class action case in 6 months is frankly impossible, and homeowners should not let this news get their hopes up.

A class action specialist in Florida, Ervin Gonzalez, was quoted in an article about Judge Fallon’s intentions saying the following:

Fast-tracking is an understatement. It’s a rocket docket. And he means business.   He wants the first case tried by the end of the year, and he wants an inspection of every home. He wants to be able to get to the bottom of the problem.

Here’s the obvious problem:  He can’t get to the bottom of the problem in the next 5 or 6 months.

The problem is complicated, and the science is in its infancy.   Leading scientist are unsure of whether the problem can be remediated, or whether full replacement of sheetrock is required.   Leading scientist are also unsure about what is actually causing the problem, and whether even replacement of the contaminated sheetrock will be enough to solve the problems.

This is not to mention some serious legal hurdles:  (1) Discovery; (2) Getting all the Defendants on the same page; (3) Identifying all the Defendants; (4) Dragging foreign manufacturers into Judge Fallon’s court.

Judge Fallon’s recent statement is sensational news, but it is false hope for the homeowners, builders and suppliers who are struggling to resolve their Chinese Drywall problems.   The only thing that has happened in his court is the allocation of attorneys fees and attorney leadership – which has nothing to do with the substantive matters.

Deadlines to file suit against builders, subcontractors and insurers are ticking away.  Homeowners, Builders and Subcontractors are all affected by these deadlines, and it’s important that they all make their claims as immediately as possible to avoid the expiration of these claims.

There are problems with class action litigation as it relates to Chinese Drywall damages.  Judge Fallon’s impossible 6-month deadline only underlines those problems.

Chinese Drywall has been in the news for just a few months, but that is enough time for vendors, home inspectors, contractors, engineers, and – yes – even attorneys to come to the surface and offer drywall-related services.

Home inspectors and engineers can inspect your property and report as to whether your home has Chinese Drywall.

Contractors can repair the Chinese Drywall in your home.

Attorneys can sue your supplier, builders or help you join a class action (or, like us at Wolfe Law Group, provide a defense and representation to builders or suppliers who have installed or supplied Chinese Drywall).

In March 2009, the Palm Beach Post ran an article about one of the first Chinese Drywall related companies, Chinese Drywall Screening, L.L.C. They interviewed its founder, Howard Ehrsam, who had these remarks:

Homeowners read about it and start getting paranoid.  There’s more questions than answers on this right now, which is why it’s scary for homeowners.

Ehrsam’s comments ring true even still, as press about Chinese Drywall continues to snowball.

Here at Wolfe Law Group and the Chinese Drywall Blog, we’re inundated by emails and inquiries from either:

1. Homeowners unsure of whether they have Chinese Drywall problems, and if they do, what to do about it; or
2. Contractors or Inspectors who offer their services to our firm in the event any of the outstanding claims proceed to litigation, or if our clients require inspection or contracting services.

Right now, it seems that businesses are lining up to address a market that hasn’t quite figured itself out yet.  Homeowners are still trying to make heads or tails of the Chinese Drywall situation, and builders are waiting anxiously to see whether they will be named in lawsuits related to the materials.

We have invited vendors to publish a post here on the Chinese Drywall Blog to answer questions posed by our readers – and mostly, the questions are these:   What is causing the drywall problems?  How do we determine if the drywall installed is defective?   What type of remedy is required?

If you think your company can answer these questions, email me and let’s arrange to have you publish a guest post on our blog.

For those non-vendor readers (including homeowners and builders), a word of caution:  We’re in uncharted waters, and those claiming to be “experts” in Chinese Drywall should be examined based on their pre-Chinese Drywall experience.

Since the imported drywall situation is new, barely anyone will have years of experience to flaunt.  However, it is safer to go with someone established in the home inspection field or the construction industry rather than a complete new-comer hoping to cash in on drywall claims.

There is so much talk about tainted drywall, and homebuilders are getting pretty familiar with the problems caused by Chinese Drywall.   Over the past few weeks, however, there has been very little information about what is exactly wrong with Chinese Drywall.

Finally, there is some news about this issue coming out of Florida (who, of course, has been monitoring the problem the longest).

Last week, Florida released the findings of its drywall investigation conducted by Unified Engineering, a private lab.  Lori Streit, a principal scientist with Unified, had this to say in a letter about the findings:

There is a distinct difference in drywall that was manufactured in the United States and those that were manufactured in China.  The Chinese samples contained traces of strontium sulfide inclusions and more organic material than the GridMarx sample (United States). However, it is not yet known if either contributed to the odor.

While the findings are only a “first step” in what could be a months-long investigation, according to Florida state toxicologist Dr. David Krause, the preliminary findings did at least appear to contradict assertions that waste products from coal-fired power plants were to blame.

More is certainly to come on this topic, but at least folks are now not in complete darkness.