A Florida couple who fled their dream home because of foul-smelling, ruinous Chinese drywall was awarded US$2.4 million in damages on Friday in the US’ first jury trial over the defective wallboard that could have legal ramifications for thousands of similar cases.
The six-person jury ruled that Armin and Lisa Seifart should receive more than just the costs of gutting and renovating their home: They were also awarded damages for loss of enjoyment of the US$1.6 million house and for the drywall stigma that might reduce its resale value.
The defendant, drywall distributor Banner Supply Co, is named in thousands of other US lawsuits. Attorneys in those cases, as well as many others pending nationwide against other companies, will look to the Seifart damage award as a guide for what kinds of damages they seek.
Defective, sulfur-emitting Chinese drywall has been linked to possible health problems along with a noxious odor, corrosion of wiring, plumbing, computers, plumbing and jewelry. Most of the problems have arisen in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana in homes built during the housing boom and some damaged during the busy 2005 hurricane season.
The Seifarts, who have two young sons, left their five-bedroom home in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood last year so it could be gutted and renovated. Their attorney, Ervin Gonzalez, said the couple was not told of problems with the drywall in March 2008 when they moved in.
“Their dream home turned into a nightmare,” Gonzalez said.
The Seifarts accused Banner of concealing knowledge it had as early as 2006 that the drywall was defective, including recommendations from manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin that the wallboards should not be used. Many of those details emerged in this trial after a confidential agreement between Banner and Knauf was unsealed.
“It was important to send a message to companies that they should do the right thing when the health of the public is at stake,” Armin Seifart said after the verdict.
“I feel that justice was done,” Lisa Seifart added.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS