More Homes Added to Chinese Drywall Remediation Settlement

A new settlement has been reached with Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin (KPT) over defective drywall manufactured by the company in China. The Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), the Homebuilder Steering Committee (HSC) and KPT announced that under a new agreement, KPT will partner with select major homebuilders to repair 200 to 300 additional homes that were initially constructed with KPT drywall.

The settlement involves reimbursements to builders for homes that have been fixed or are being repaired now, and others that are in line to be remediated. The homes are mostly in Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, the Associated Press reported.

KPT agreed in October 2010 to participate in a demonstration remediation program in homes that contain drywall manufactured by KPT. The program is funded by KPT and a number of builders, drywall suppliers, including Interior/Exterior Building Supply L.P., and their insurers.

In addition to the homes participating in this new settlement, more than 1,200 homes are progressing through the KPT demonstration remediation program.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against homebuilders, developers, installers, realtors, brokers, suppliers, importers, exporters, distributors and manufacturers over drywall from China, which was widely imported into the United States between 2004 and 2006. Because of the commonality of facts in the various cases, the litigation was designated as Multi-District Litigation (MDL). In June 2009 all federal cases were consolidated and assigned to Judge Eldon E. Fallon of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana.