General Discussion

lostnfound

(16,189 posts) Sun Oct 30, 2016, 04:41 PM Oct 2016

Black homeowners, Chinese drywall - get little help

(Example: One owes $79,000 on the house which is now worth $600...)

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/black-families-in-tampa-encouraged-to-buy-homes-marred-by-chinese-drywall/2300256

Black families in Tampa encouraged to buy homes marred by Chinese drywall get little help

TAMPA — Sulfurous fumes seep from the walls of Valentine Hendrix's home, slowly attacking her appliances and light fixtures, her lungs and sinuses.

It's been that way for almost nine years.

In 2008, Hendrix's family was one of 12 poor black families encouraged by the Tampa Housing Authority to become first-time home buyers in east Tampa. With down payment help from federal and city grants, they took out mortgages for new homes that cost up to $175,000.

But the homes were built with tainted Chinese drywall, the same material that marred an estimated 100,000 U.S. homes built during last decade's boom and bust. Within months, light fixtures and wall sockets stopped working. Air-conditioning units kept breaking down.

4 replies

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Black homeowners, Chinese drywall - get little help (Original Post) lostnfound Oct 2016 OP

Justice system & our economy ultimately doesn't protect the poor lostnfound Oct 2016 #1

It's not just the poor. People with resources/money have TheDebbieDee Oct 2016 #4

I am more convinced that many citizens across many countries malaise Oct 2016 #2

Exactly. The very concept of limited liability companies lostnfound Oct 2016 #3

lostnfound

(16,189 posts)

1. Justice system & our economy ultimately doesn't protect the poor

Reply to lostnfound (Original post)

Sun Oct 30, 2016, 04:45 PM

Oct 2016

Those who always blame the poor for "not doing things the right way" ignore the absence of fair justice in cases like these.

While people like Trump can screw over so many people that he ends up in 4,000 lawsuits, the system generally protects him.

The woman in this story, were it not for the use of cheap toxic drywall, would have her health, her house, and equity in a home to pass on to her offspring.

TheDebbieDee

(11,119 posts)

4. It's not just the poor. People with resources/money have

Reply to lostnfound (Reply #1)

Sun Oct 30, 2016, 06:50 PM

Oct 2016

had a difficult time dealing with this Chinese drywall dilemma as well.

I read an article in the late 90s about how Ed McMahon (Johnny Carson's old sidekick) was having a helluva time with his expansive house. In the early or mid 90s, he found out that the cause for his and his wife's many recent health ailments was due to mold in his home that had grown into the walls (At that time, no one knew that nearly ALL the drywall used in US construction was coming from China was contaminated). McMahon couldn't sell his home knowing that it was contaminated so he either made an insurance claim or paid out of his pocket to have all the walls in his home replaced.... with more Chinese drywall.

Several months after having the walls replaced and finding that he and the Mrs. was still having health issues, he found that his home was once again contaminated with mold. IIRC, Ed McMahon died in the early 2000s, most of his fortune gone. Although his fortune wasn't spent entirely on his home, I sure that the mold business caused a of stress for him...

malaise

(269,157 posts)

2. I am more convinced that many citizens across many countries

Reply to lostnfound (Original post)

Sun Oct 30, 2016, 04:52 PM

Oct 2016

get very little support from governments - there are people everywhere trying to rob us in one way or another - non stop and it's even worse if you're African American. It's like swimming among the sharks.

lostnfound

(16,189 posts)

3. Exactly. The very concept of limited liability companies

Reply to malaise (Reply #2)

Sun Oct 30, 2016, 05:00 PM

Oct 2016

Was novel in the beginning. Corporations (and the money behind them) were viewed as something of a threat to democracy. When I think about the people who were made rich through such development choices, able to get profits and walk away, whether it was the drywall sellers or the builders, and there's no one to step in at the end and erase the harm done to these people.

Bankers get bailed out and don't go to jail. Poor people go bankrupt and have their lives turned upside down and they get no help.
Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.
Swimming with sharks.

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