Last day to file for Chinese drywall $248 million settlement

For homeowners who had toxic Chinese drywall, they will see money from a $248 million settlement. The drywall was put into homes all across Southwest Florida in the early 2000s after hurricanes caused significant damage and there was a drywall shortage.

Richard and Patti Kampf, at one point called the Chinese drywall they found out was toxic in 2008 inside their Cape Coral home a nightmare.

“It was coughing, runny nose, when you had a cold, the cold was exacerbated by the fact that you had sulfur dioxide,” Richard said. “It turned everything in the house black that was metal related. Particularly copper and silver, so all the electrical wiring. We had tv’s fail, computers fail.”

The couple spent over $100,000 to repair their home and, in 2011, were part of a major settlement with the manufacturer KPT. Now, after 10 years of litigation, a federal judge granted final approval on a $248 million settlement against another Chinese company.

The $248 million settlement comes with a master list of over 3,000 claims. A handful of those cases are in Cape Coral. Wednesday, Feb. 12, is the last day to file.

MORE: Instruction on how to make a claim

While the Kampf’s are happy more families will get some money back, they fear for those who do not know they are living with toxic drywall.

“It could be anywhere, 500 to 1,000 or more, in and around Lee County that have homes that are impacted by Chines drywall,” Richard said. “And people don’t know it.”