The Evolution of Drywall Litigation

News of defective Chinese drywall captured headlines in 2009 shortly after the housing boom across the country. In what seemed like an overnight phenomenon, the influx of Chinese drywall in the United States grew to over 500 million pounds from a minimal presence prior to that time period. In no time, Chinese drywall was estimated to have been used in more than 100,000 homes, including houses built after Hurricane Katrina. By 2010, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) had received 3,602 incident reports from 38 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and even American Samoa about the defective drywall. More than 90 percent of the complaints came from five states: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia.