The crash of the housing industry is not the only thing spoiling business.  Another rotten egg also poses a serious financial threat.  Chinese drywall litigation has come to life and is growing quickly.  If you think you can avoid the rising storm of Chinese drywall litigation, you may be as naïve as those who thought they could avoid the powerful destruction of the hurricanes.  The problems began when homeowners with newly installed Chinese drywall began to discover that their homes smelled like rotten eggs.  Besides the smell, homeowners also discovered serious corrosion and failure of mechanical equipment.  Some homeowners even experienced headaches, allergic reactions, respiratory ailments, nose bleeds and other adverse health conditions.  Testing revealed that Chinese drywall contains volatile sulfur compounds that release toxic gasses which smell similar to rotten eggs.  The testing also demonstrated these gasses caused damage to metal.  It was no surprise that lawsuits were soon filed.  The surprise was that a builder filed first.  Lennar Homes sued manufacturers, suppliers, and installers.  Lennar also took action to save its reputation by offering to move homeowners out and performing remediation in exchange for homeowners releasing claims against Lennar.  Homeowners also filed individual and class actions although no class has been certified yet.  (more…)