Years ago the polybutelene pipe class action resulted in a huge class action fund that homeowners could apply to for replacement of their polybutelene pipes. There were a lot of hoops to jump through, and then there was the problem of who to do the work.
This work involved cutting holes in the walls, then cutting out the poly pipe and replacing with copper or other composite pipes. After the pipes were replaced, the walls had to be repaired. I was an executive of a large company that did the best work in the country. We were often called in to fix other contractors' mistakes.
Chinese drywall can be even worse. Now we're talking about ripping out ALL of the drywall in a home. That means all of the kitchen cabinets must come down and all of the molding, frames, etc. Basically, to do it right, you must de-contstruct the interior of a home and then put it back together. There is also the unknown danger of the remediation and disposal process. And no one knows what long term effect Chinese drywall has already placed on these homes.
Most of the big contractors are not interested in this work. There are too many risks in doing the work, and too many long term unknowns. The big question will be . . . who is going to do the work, and will insurance companies insure these homes once they are "repaired."
There is another answer. Bulldoze these homes and build new ones or just leave the lots empty until the inventory glut is eaten away. Bulldozing toxic homes is not that bad of an idea if the insurance industry, the home builders and the manufacturers are going to fund it. It would kill two birds with one stone.
The downside would be entire developments stripped to the ground. And maybe that is not such a downside in this market. I still believe the home builders have far more liability than they are accepting. They knew there were problems with these homes, but they refused to properly investigate. They were too busy building homes for flippers that are now standing empty or being foreclosed by the millions.
My advice to clients thinking about buying a home with Chinese Drywall or a home where the Chinese Drywall has been replaced . . . is to run the other way. Don't even think about it because you have no idea what the long term effects will be, and there is now a standard disclosure form for Chinese Drywall so when you go to sell the house, you may also have a problem.
My advice to clients that have homes with Chinese Drywall is to find new attorneys. You need to go back and look at what the builders new and when. Not only that, but what the builders should have known when they were seeing the corrosion that the drywall created.
I can tell you one thing. The sharks are going to clean house on this one. I look at some of the attorneys involved in these cases and just have to laugh. They're main concern is their cut and how fast they can cut themselves loose from this case. OR . . . how long they can stay on the payroll of this case as the fund disburses remediation monies. Either way, it is ugly for the consumer and rosy for the sharks and the builders that made hundreds of millions on these homes.
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