As part of its continued advacy for victims of Chinese drywall, attorney David Durkee sent this correspondence to Florida Hosue of Represenatvies, Julio Robaina of District 117.
Dear Representative Robaina:
I wanted to take a moment and thank you for allowing me to voice my concerns concerning the issues that surround Chinese drywall.  As we have discussed, [...]

Please find below transcripts to the most recent hearing on Chinese Drywall in West Palm, Florida
Click here to view: Transcript #1
Click here to view: Transcript #2

What the taxpayers giveth…the taxpayers can taketh away!
One of the main concerns that victims of Chinese drywall have is how do I survive this crisis financially.  In the short term, this concern manifests itself in the form of, “How do I pay my mortgage?”  How do I pay my mortgage and also afford to pay [...]

Citizens’ Decision To Renew And/Or Write Insurance To Victims Of Chinese Drywall Will Have Far Reaching Impact
When Citizens Insurance first told folks with Chinese drywall that they would not renew their policies and/or would not write insurance to victims of Chinese Drywall, advocates were unsure as to whether to tell their clients to file a [...]

Citizens Insurance Company reverses their decision to not renew an insurance policy due to Chinese drywall
As you know, on September 28, 2009, the blog on our site, www.Chinesedrywallproblem.com first posted the story of James and Maria Ivory.  Mr. and Mrs. Ivory were the victims of Chinese drywall whose homeowners insurance was not going to be [...]

Last week, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled that Citigroup and other lenders made fraudulent transfers to Tousa when they gave loans to Tousa six months before the Hollywood based home-builder filed for bankruptcy.  Basically, the Judge awarded $403 million, plus interest, fees and expenses, and stripped them of a $207 million security interest in a [...]

Judge Fallon in the MDL for Chinese Drywall has entered preservation of evidence order - this can help victims who may want to repair their home while their litigation is pending.
Last week a very important order was issued by Judge Fallon in the Multi District Litigation that is pending in Federal Court in New Orleans [...]

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has now issued its October report.  This report does not provide any new information about this crisis.  However, it does state that by the end of October the CPSC expects to receive the results of their initial set of tests.  Further, by early November they should have the results of [...]

Some Homeowner Policies Canceled After Claims Involving Defective Chinese Product
By M.P. MCQUEEN. Click here to see the original article.
At least two home insurers in Florida have begun dropping policyholders who filed claims for property damage linked to drywall imported from China.
Disputes with insurance companies are increasing as a growing number of homeowners file claims for [...]

As you many know, our law firm has been advocating for the protection of homeowner’s insurance for Chinese drywall victims. We have written to elected officials apprising them of issues surrounding Chinese drywall and homeowner’s insurance. More importantly, we have requested that these public officials review current legislation to ensure that Chinese drywall victims are [...]

If you fear your home was built with defective drywall, these are some places to turn.

We have had some success.  Based on our efforts and the efforts of other victims of Chinese drywall, the CPSC on Sunday was quoted in the Times Picayune, a leading newspaper for the New Orleans area, stating that they have “added drywall to the agenda of the biennial safety conference with the Chinese government and [...]

So that the victims of Chinese drywall can have their voices heard by their elected representatives - the law firm of Roberts & Durkee has listed the contact information for the various state and Federal elected officials who you may want to contact and/or write a letter to. It is important that contact is made [...]

Jim Ivory, a retired maintenance technician for Anheuser Busch, is a victim of Chinese drywall.  He bought a retirement home in Punta Gorda, Florida.  Later he learned that the odor in the home, the toxic fumes that were burning his eyes and burning his throat and nose when he took a breath, the sulfur in [...]

On October 21, 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will be attending the 3rd Biennial United States - China Consumer Product Safety Commission Summit.  This is a summit between the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and its counterpart agency, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China [...]

This appointment will allow C. David Durkee to continue to be a leader in helping victims of this defective product.

Today, Florida’s senior Senator, Senator Bill Nelson, along with Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Senator Jim Webb, and Senator Mark Warner, has written to President Obama, Secretary Geithner, Head of the Department of Treasury, Secretary Shaun Donovan, Head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the head of the Small Business Administration asking for Federal assistance for victims of toxic Chinese drywall. These letters accurately detail the scope of the problem and the devastating effect it is having on families throughout this country.

 
On Thursday, July 23, 2009, at 7 PM the Law firm of Roberts & Durkee will be hosting a town hall meeting in Palm Coast, Florida. This town hall meeting will be free to all that come. Various groups of people may want to attend the event, such as victims of this defective product, Realtors, [...]

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has recently issued a preliminary report on toxic, Chinese drywall. Although it has some information concerning this toxic, defective product it is still vary short on conclusions. To date, the CPSC has received 608 complaints in 21 states and the District of Columbia. The CPSC has also confirmed that 5,503,694 [...]

Recently, Senator Bill Nelson wrote to the Department of Treasure, Internal Revenue Service and requested clarification to determine whether the tax code would allow victims of toxic Chinese drywall to receive some sort of tax deduction. In response, George J. Blaine, Associate Chief Counsel of the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service has stated that [...]

Last week, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, one of the Senators who have taken the lead on the toxic Chinese drywall issue, and a few other Senators working on the issue made public a letter that was sent to the Internal Revenue Service. This letter seeks to clarify whether a tax code section that allows tax payers to deduct property losses suffered as a result of an unexpected event, such as a fire or storm, can apply to losses suffered by homeowners who have been victims of toxic Chinese Drywall.

A few days ago, all of the class actions that have been filed throughout the country on behalf of victims who have toxic Chinese drywall in their homes were centralized in New Orleans. Basically, this means that most, if not all, of the pre-trial proceedings for these cases will be decided by a Federal Judge in New Orleans.

Last night, June 10, 2009, the law firm of Roberts & Durkee held another town hall meeting trying to answer questions about toxic Chinese drywall. This time, the meeting was held for residents of the Umatilla / Tavares area. It was a different location but the looks on the faces of the victims were the same.

Toxic Chinese drywall may end up being one of the largest and costliest consumer product defect cases in the history of the United States. This is a problem that causes homes to become infected with toxic gasses that damage appliances within a home and can cause various health issues, including respiratory problems and bloody noses. This is a problem that has been in the public eye for several months now.

A VERY HARD THING TO ESTIMATE…. On May 31, 2009, the Miami Herald published an article called, “The Curse of the Defective Drywall.” This article concerned toxic Chinese drywall and the problems that it is causing for Florida and the country. Within the article a builder attempted to estimate the cost of repair, “Louisiana builder Randy Noel said repair projections vary from $100,000.00 to a third of the home’s value.” This is how some class action cases may end up handling the issue of damages for the victims of this terrible consumer related tragedy.

An interesting article just came out in the Miami Herald today about the latest Chinese Drywall updates. The Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, have been doing investigations and taking tests to prove the correlation between the foreign defective drywall and health effects, failure of appliances, and corrosion of copper. They are one step closer to finally proving the drywall to be defective. EPA’s new test results show that Chinese Drywall have high levels of strontium, sulfur, and other elements that are not found in American Drywall.

The Florida law firms of Roberts & Durkee and Milstein Adelman & Kreger have the scheduled three town hall meetings throughout the state of Florida. At these town hall meetings, the attorneys will discuss the toxic Chinese drywall problem. They will discuss the scope of the problem in Florida, how to identify the problem in your home and what are your legal rights if you have this condition in your home.

Recently, CNN.COM did a fairly “in depth” report on Chinese Drywall. This article was published about a week ago. It was supposedly based on the most up to date information available about this problem. However, the story was confusing, if not simply wrong, when it reported the following…

This week, the law firm of Roberts & Durkee and the law firm of Milstein Adelman & Kreger jointly wrote a letter to Senator Nelson to help craft legislation concerning toxic Chinese drywall. Our firms feel it is very important for any legislation that is passed at either the federal or state level to be broad enough to include all of the victims of this terrible tragedy.

Today Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a warning to victims of toxic Chinese drywall. According to the Attorney General there have been a number of reported fraudulent activities…

During the past week, our firm has scientifically tested over 20 homes for toxic Chinese drywall. Each home was tested by a noted toxicologist who has the necessary background, training and experience to perform this type of test. Each home had three different types of testing performed - there were two air quality tests performed and one actual test of the drywall itself. These test results will yield valuable information.

Yesterday, I traveled to two new communities. I traveled to a home in Ruskin and to another home in Defuniak Springs. Both of these are small Florida communities. However, I found evidence in these small communities that they had been touched by the growing problem of toxic Chinese drywall. In the past few months I have personally traveled to communities all over the east and west coast and have visited with families facing this tragedy.

Over the past few weeks, I have been traveling the state of Florida to talk to people about toxic Chinese drywall. Just yesterday I began my day in Miami, traveled to Punta Gorda to meet a homeowner by 10:00 AM, traveled to Lehigh Acers to meet another victim, traveled to Cape Coral to see a few more homeowners, and then to Estero, Florida. At each visit, when the homeowner came to the realization that they were faced with this terrible problem, I saw the familiar face 0f devastation.

Roberts & Durkee is currently helping Florida’s homeowners with their problems with toxic Chinese drywall. We are being flooded with calls and e-mails from worried homeowners throughout the state who are seeking answers and help, and we are responding to all their inquiries and traveling to their communities to personally answer their questions. Please continue to check our blog, as we will provide regular updates about what the Florida Department of Health has called the “Chinese drywall phenomenon.”