chinese drywall

   The Associated Press has reported today that a number of banks that own Florida homes containing faulty Chinese drywall are refusing to participate in a class-action lawsuit against the drywall manufacturer and supplier. According to Podhurst Orseck attorney Victor Diaz, lead counsel for plaintiffs in the drywall class action, banks have received numerous  notices and requests to join the class – both by phone and priority mail – and not a single bank has responded.

If you own or occupy a home in Florida, you've likely been privy to the ongoing Chinese drywall catastrophe. The construction material is sickening thousands of homeowners, literally corroding their homes, and driving them from an uninhabitable abode they're still paying a mortgage on. Litigation against the manufacturers, exporters, suppliers, and construction companies using the material, of course, is ongoing; but it just got a major boost with the release of documents which show that parties involved in the export and supply chain knew about the issue - and may have paid to keep it under wraps.

HOUSING - DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW - TORRE MACKLE GROUP FEATURED

As seen in the DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW: "Longtime South Florida builders Venny Torre and Frank Mackle are finding new sources of work from the Chinese drywall crisis and distressed real estate assets.

From the outside it's a beautiful home, but it's the dangers that lurk inside, and the smell of rotten eggs that's causing Frank Mackle to completely rip it apart. "See how black it is?" said Mackle, the homeowner and a developer.

MIAMI, FL - July, 2009 - The Torre Mackle Group, Inc., a Miami-based construction and development firm specializing in the completion and remediation of distressed real estate assets, has been engaged to finish the construction of Terzetto Villas, a 62-unit residential complex in Aventura, Florida. The contract was awarded following a court decision appointing a receiver when the property's developer defaulted on its financial obligations. Following detailed cost and feasibility analyses, the project's receiver and largest creditor, Ocean Bank, decided to move forward with completion of the project.

The Torre Mackle Group launched its distressed asset practice in late 2008 in response to the growing number of troubled commercial and condominium properties in South Florida. The region, currently home to at least 232 known troubled assets representing $6.9 billion in problematic loans, ranks third in the U.S. for the volume of commercial real estate and condo projects now at some level of financial distress, according to the independent research group Real Capital Analytics.

Frank Mackle, Principal of The Torre Mackle Group, believes the ‘perfect storm' underway in the real estate industry has created a niche for firms with expertise in inheriting construction projects midstream. "Many owners and developers defaulted on their financial responsibilities when the real estate bubble burst, prompting lenders to seize their unfinished properties. Because distressed asset remediation is not a bank's core business, these institutions rely on firms like The Torre Mackle Group to help determine the best course of action for the property and execute that plan," said Mackle.