For an issue that hits as literally close to home as this, people are naturally going to look far and wide for sources of information about it. You're skeptical about what KB Home tells you because the builder obviously wants to fix the problem as cheaply as possible, preferably with a signed documents in hand that relieve KB of any further obligation to you — even if the fix doesn't work.
But you should also beware those who will try to exploit your fears for their own gain. There probably is not a trial lawyer in Florida whose website does not have a page devoted to Chinese drywall. Your tragedy is their payday. They don't have much more concern for you than KB Home does except that KB has your money (or your bank's money) already and the lawyer hopes to get it.
One person in the community has passed along information from something called the Chinese Drywall Complaint Center. It's a website put up by a self-described consumer advocacy group called America's Watchdog.
M. Thomas Martin, America's Watchdog's President, is an ex-con who spent two years in prison for fraud. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported in March that Martin may be table pounding the Chinese drywall issue to raise his tiny organization's profile.
So when he says on his site, "we believe up to 500,000 US homes built, or remodeled since 2001, could have this lethal Chinese drywall in them," while the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports fewer than 900 cases in 23 states and Washington, D.C. to date, take it with a grain of salt.
The term "lethal" is also misleading. There are no reported deaths from Chinese drywall.
There are real problems associated with Chinese drywall, no doubt. Just beware the people who will play on your fears for profit if you give them a chance. Your humble blog correspondent will report any reliable information that he receives about this or any issue affecting your home here in St. Charles Place.
