Protocol for Chinese Drywall Remediation

If you have Chinese drywall in your home, one of the challenges you face is not knowing exactly what needs to be done to fix the problem properly. We may now have some answers. The Florida Professional Coalition For Chinese Drywall has established a protocol for what the remedy should be.

The organization's website offers information about the Coalition. You can download the entire protocol document in PDF format by clicking here.

St. Charles Place HOA board member Beth Burns, who who has Chinese drywall in her home, reports that the protocol detailed in that document is largely in line with the proposal that our builder, KB Home, has offered to fix the problem.

Beth has done volumes of research and is willing to share the fruits of her labors with you. She has investigated everything from how to get a revised assessment from Hillsborough County that will lower your property taxes to what three different attorneys say about KB's settlement offer.

Below is an e-mail that she wanted to reach anyone in our community dealing with the problem.

One of the most important issues for me at the moment concerns the current assessments on our properties for property tax purposes, as they have a deadline of September 14, 2009. The appraiser's office has been very receptive about adjusting the values of the homes. They are unsure of the exact calculations at this time, but are working with other counties to determine how they will reassess homes affected by Chinese Drywall. Generic information about appealing TRIM notice values can be found here: http://www.hcpafl.org/downloads/appeal_process.aspx.

I have been speaking with a woman at the property appraiser's office named Alexandra Fitos (FitosA@hcpafl.org). She has indicated that our community should complete the following items asap:

1) **Compile a spreadsheet of affected homes and owner contract information and send it to her office

2) Individuals may want to file individual appeals using the protocol on the website above (apparently it costs $15)

3) Gather documentation of the presence of Chinese Drywall to present to inspectors that will come to our homes to reassess (letter from KB, test results, pictures of corrosion, etc.)

**I'd be happy to begin the spreadsheet for our community. Please spread the word to your neighbors.

On another note, here is a link to the first protocol for remediating Chinese Drywall: http://www.chinesedrywallprotocol.org/Home_Page.html. Click on "Protocol". This contains the 26-page document I spoke about last night (at the HOA board meeting -editor). Thankfully, what KB is proposing in their settlement does follow the general guidelines presented here, with the exception of the micro-cleaning of personal belongings (and a lot of very vague wording in the replacement paragraphs).

Finally, please spread the word. If a neighbor of yours has Chinese Drywall, please have them log onto stcharlesplace.us to obtain the latest updates for our community.

Thanks to all of you, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Regards~
Beth Burns

As mentioned, Beth has consulted with three attorneys, two of whom she says have reviewed KB Home's settlement offer. She is willing to share their recommendations with you. Click here to contact Beth directly. Remember you can reach her or any of your HOA board members on the community website www.stcharlesplace.us.

If you know you have Chinese drywall in your home, it is highly likely that the others in your building do, too. Please share this information with them. Point them to the website where they can find a link to this blog.