Are you learning about Chinese Drywall for the first time? Are you looking for representation in a Chinese Drywall dispute?

Check out Wolfe Law Group’s newly published Chinese Drywall brochure and learn how to get started on your drywall lawsuit.

On July 31, 2009, Wolfe Law Group’s Scott Wolfe and Doug Reiser will co-present at Half Moon Seminar’s Chinese Drywall Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The program is titled “Chinese Drywall Problems and Litigation.” Attorneys, contractors, engineers and architects can all obtain CLE credit for attending the program [register here].

Wolfe & Reiser will co-present during the program’s middle segment, “Exploring the Current Status of Chinese Drywall Claims and Litigation.”

Be sure to attend the program on July 31st in New Orleans. To get ready, or in case you can’t make it, below is the slide presentation we’ll use during the presentation.

Wolfe Law Group’s own Scott Wolfe, Jr. provides the leading quote in a recent article from HousingZone.com: Homeowners Increasing Suing Local Builders. Scott gave this quote to the publication:

The best and quickest way to get the drywall out is to go after the builder, who ultimately has to live up to his warranty. If the consumer tinkers with class-action lawsuits that can drag out for months, their warranties start to expire, and their chances of getting something from the builder are slimmer.

If we’ve said it once on this blog, we’ve said it a thousand times (here, here, here, here and here).

While class action suits have their purpose, it presents real challenges to homeowners who are interested in getting the Chinese Drywall out of their property.

The class action suits have their warts, and homeowners may find a better remedy by filing a direct action against their builders, suppliers and insurers.

With every day that passes, however, deadlines are drawing closer. The one year deadline for insurance claims and torts. The 3-4 year deadline with claims in redhibition. And the 1, 2 or 5 year deadlines associated with construction warranty claims.

The worst news about the deadlines being that many, if not most of the statutory periods begin when the drywall was delivered or installed…and not when the homeowner learned of the problem.

All was quiet with regard to individual lawsuits against builders and suppliers, but recent news reports indicate that the remedy is gaining some steam.

The article from HousingZone.com is not alone. The Times Picayune recently reported that homeowners are more frequently suing builders, and Baton Rouge’s Advocate had the same analysis.

Could an avalanche of Homeowner v. Builder suits be on the horizon?

If you’re interested in learning more about bringing a suit against your builder, or your construction company is interested in bringing suit its suppliers and insurers, contact Wolfe Law Group today.

Wolfe Law Group, a construction law firm with offices in New Orleans, Louisiana and Seattle, Washington, is now offering services to homeowners with defective drywall who are interested in bringing a direct claim against their builder or supplier for recovery.

Recently, we’ve written on this blog about why class action litigation may not be the most direct and beneficial course of action for homeowners with Chinese Drywall.

Homeowners have contract and warranty claims directly against their builders and the builder’s insurer, which may produce tangible recovery much quicker than a prolonged and complex class action proceeding.

Wolfe Law Group is now offering services to homeowners who are interested in presenting these claims against their insurers and/or builders. For more information on this practice area and the associated fees, please click here to visit wolfelaw.com’s page on the same.

Wolfe Law Group’s general construction law blog, the Construction Law Monitor, published three articles over the past two weeks that analyzed the choices faced by builders, homeowners and construction attorneys involved with Chinese Drywall claims.

The three-part series of articles provides these parties with a useful discussion of the decisions that must be confronted as each deal with damages sustained by the installation and supply of tainted drywall.

The article series can be found under the Chinese Drywall Tag on the blog. Or by clicking on one of the following links, whereby each article is briefly discussed.

Builders
This article discusses issues related to making insurance claims, remedying the drywall problem within homes, the duty to mitigate damages and options available to the builder in litigation.

Construction Attorneys
This article discusses the role of class action suits in the imported drywall crisis, warranties and the role of builders in the suits, and how the duty to mitigate damages affects all parties.

Homeowners
This article discusses the choices facing homeowners who have tainted drywall in their homes. It examines the pros and cons of class action suits, individual litigation, and making insurance claims….as well as the ultimate unfortunate job that homeowner might be forced to take: fixing the drywall out of their own pocket (at least for now).

This blog is published by Wolfe Law Group, a construction law practice with offices in Seattle, WA and New Orleans, LA.

Thus far, the blog has focused a great deal on Louisiana news and law related to Chinese Drywall – and the reason is simple: The amount of imported Chinese Drywall in Louisiana is second only to Florida.

Further, Chinese Drywall was by and large imported into Gulf Coast states like Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas.

While the state of Washington is clearly worlds apart from the Gulf Coast region…it’s not out of the woods insofar as Chinese Drywall in concerned. In fact, its among the 12 U.S. states who have imported at least 1 million pounds of tainted drywall from China since January 1, 2006.

A helpful graphic based on data published by the Herald Tribune shows that Washington has imported 2,437,491 pounds of Chinese Drywall since January 1 2006, which is enough to build approximately 270 homes.

As lawsuits gather stem in Florida and Louisiana, and across the Gulf Coast, Washington contractors and suppliers ought to remain viligent and cautious of Chinese Drywall claims.

Have questions about what to do if you installed or supplied tainted drywall? We wrote an Avvo Legal Guide on the topic here…and you can always contact Wolfe Law Group.

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.

New Orleans’ Fox 8 has been reporting on the Chinese Drywall crisis as it’s appearing in Louisiana. They recently turned the tables on the story, asking not about problems faced by homeowners, but those problems faced by builders, contractors, suppliers and other participants in the construction industry.

This has been a focus of Wolfe Law Group, who recently launched a practice group to advise and represent contractors and suppliers with regard to the Chinese Drywall crisis. Fox’s Nancy Parker interviewed Scott Wolfe, Jr., partner at Wolfe Law Group, with respect to how contractors and suppliers are affected by the Chinese Drywall problem.

The story itself is here. Here is a video from the newscast:

As feared, recent reports confirm that Chinese Drywall was imported and installed throughout homes in Louisiana. According to WWLTV.com, as much as 60 millions pounds of contaminated drywall may have been unloaded at Louisiana docks – which, unfortunately, is enough to build 7,000 homes.

As the region grows concerned about how the situation may displace and effect homeowners and property owners, there are other victims: The contractors and suppliers.

Ultimately, its local contractors and suppliers who unloaded the Chinese Drywall and installed them into homes and businesses across the state. As complaints and lawsuits surface, these local business could be facing long, expensive legal battles.

The Chinese Drywall situation is mature news in Florida, and so Louisiana victims (homeowners and contractors alike) can look to the experience in that state for an understanding of what’s to come.

The Naple Daily News reported just a few weeks ago that there is no quick fix for Chinese Drywall problems, and addressed how the situation is affecting builders and suppliers:

Mark Boyle and Geoffrey Gentile of Boyle & Gentile advised builders in the audience of steps to take should customers contact them with a claim of Chinese drywall.

They should put their insurance companies, all of them dating back several years, on notice so they can be involved in the process, Boyle said.

Gentile added that builders should get their documents together, such as contracts, master agreements with subcontractors, insurance policies, warranties and builders risk policies to understand their involvement.

They also can review warranty calls to see if any homes they built have had recurring problems indicative of Chinese drywall, including air conditioning unit failures.

“Everyone thinks about fault,” Boyle said. “No contractor in this community knew or had any reason to believe there was anything wrong with this drywall.”

But the law isn’t just about fault, he said. If your product is defective, you’re responsible.

The advice is good.

For construction companies and suppliers who has encountered Chinese Drywall, it’s only a matter of time before a complaint affects your business.

The expense for your company will be two-fold:

1. You may have the expense of fulfilling your warranty to the homeowner, which could mean extensive property repairs; and
2. You may have legal expenses associated with the property owner’s health concerns, loss of use of the property, and more.

What do you do?

As mentioned in the Naples Daily News article, businesses should quickly report the exposure to their insurance carriers (all of them), work with the property owner to “mitigate its damages,” have the property inspected and tested to confirm the suspicion, and retain counsel to discuss its rights.

Wolfe Law Group has recently launched a new practice area related specifically to Chinese Drywall defense, where the firm can help advise contractors, subcontractors and suppliers on how to best protect themselves in light of the Chinese Drywall contamination problem, and if necessary, defend them in suit.

In some instances, it may be prudent for your company to file suits against your suppliers and installers. Lennar Co. did exactly this in Florida as reported by Builder Online when they sued 8 drywall suppliers and 12 installers, charging them with breach of contract and breach of express and implied warranties.

The long and short of the matter is this: Chinese Drywall is here in Louisiana to stay, and if your business was involved with the supply or installation of the materials, you’ll likely encounter related legal and economic challenges.

Businesses should be aware of the problem and prepare to limit its exposure as best as possible.