NEW ORLEANS – June 17, 2009 – Florida lost the fight for venue, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana will consolidate cases from around the nation, according to an order issued Monday by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML). The order applies to pending and future cases.

JPML overrode Florida requests for venue based on the experience of Louisiana judge who would hear the case, Judge Eldon E. Fallon. Florida officials argued that the state had the highest number of Chinese drywall cases; therefore, it made sense to hold the trial in the Sunshine State. But the judge has experience in large-scale litigation, and recently oversaw a case involving the drug Vioxx.

The order immediately moves 10 lawsuits in Florida, Louisiana and Ohio to New Orleans. An additional 67 cases might also be included, and website Law.com estimates that as many as 1,000 cases may eventually be part of it.

“I really wish (the litigation) stayed in Florida,” says Kristin Culliton, a Florida homeowner and lead plaintiff in one of the cases now moving to New Orleans. “(This is) where most of us are. It’s where it all began and where it belonged.”

Multidistrict litigation (MDL) puts all cases under a single judge to make the process easier. It seeks to avoid inconsistent rulings, conserve the parties’ resources, and save time for the court and witnesses.

So far, 18 states have reported Chinese drywall problems, in which ingredients used to make the drywall give off a sulfur smell and damage metal, such as air conditioning coils. A study last month by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found a higher level of sulfur in Chinese manufactured drywall, along with two organic compounds usually found in acrylic paint. None of those ingredients is found in American-made drywall.

The EPA did not, however, rule on whether those compounds can harm metal pipes or people.

NEW ORLEANS – June 17, 2009 – Florida lost the fight for venue, and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana will consolidate cases from around the nation, according to an order issued Monday by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML). The order applies to pending and future cases.

JPML overrode Florida requests for venue based on the experience of Louisiana judge who would hear the case, Judge Eldon E. Fallon. Florida officials argued that the state had the highest number of Chinese drywall cases; therefore, it made sense to hold the trial in the Sunshine State. But the judge has experience in large-scale litigation, and recently oversaw a case involving the drug Vioxx.

The order immediately moves 10 lawsuits in Florida, Louisiana and Ohio to New Orleans. An additional 67 cases might also be included, and website Law.com estimates that as many as 1,000 cases may eventually be part of it.

“I really wish (the litigation) stayed in Florida,” says Kristin Culliton, a Florida homeowner and lead plaintiff in one of the cases now moving to New Orleans. “(This is) where most of us are. It’s where it all began and where it belonged.”

Multidistrict litigation (MDL) puts all cases under a single judge to make the process easier. It seeks to avoid inconsistent rulings, conserve the parties’ resources, and save time for the court and witnesses.

So far, 18 states have reported Chinese drywall problems, in which ingredients used to make the drywall give off a sulfur smell and damage metal, such as air conditioning coils. A study last month by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found a higher level of sulfur in Chinese manufactured drywall, along with two organic compounds usually found in acrylic paint. None of those ingredients is found in American-made drywall.

The EPA did not, however, rule on whether those compounds can harm metal pipes or people.

WASHINGTON – June 11, 2009 – The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes dipped in May from April, and the annual increase was the smallest in three years.

But as layoffs, rather than risky mortgages, become the main reason that borrowers default on their home loans, foreclosures likely will remain elevated this year and into 2010. Many economists expect unemployment, now at 9.4 percent nationwide, to rise as high as 10 percent, and some project it will exceed the post-World War II record of 10.8 percent.

Foreclosure filings fell 6 percent in May from April, according to RealtyTrac Inc. More than 321,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month – 18 percent more than a year earlier – but the smallest annual gain since June 2006.

Despite the drop from April, it was the third-highest monthly rate since Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005, and the third straight month with more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing.

One in every 398 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing last month, according to the foreclosure listing firm’s report.

The mortgage industry has resumed cracking down on delinquent borrowers after foreclosures were temporarily halted by mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other lenders.

“It would not be a huge surprise to see the numbers level off a little bit at this point,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.

Banks repossessed about 65,000 homes in May, up from 64,000 in April, due to big increases in several states including Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.

The Obama administration announced a plan in March to provide $50 billion from the financial industry rescue fund as an incentive for the mortgage industry to modify loans at lower monthly payments.

But the effectiveness of the relief plan remains unclear, with questions lingering about how much the lending industry will cooperate. Many housing counselors say it hasn’t made much of a difference so far.

After banks take over foreclosed homes, they usually put them up for sale at deep discounts, pulling down prices for other sellers. Nationwide, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about 45 percent of the market in April, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The supply of new foreclosures had diminished in recent months as banks held off on taking back properties, but it’s starting to surge again, said Gary Kent, a San Diego real estate broker who focuses on the foreclosure market.

“Everything I’ve got that’s priced right is just flying off the shelves,” he said.

On a state-by-state basis, Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in May with one every 64 households receiving a filing. California took the No. 2 slot previously occupied by Florida. California’s rate was one in every 144 households.

In Florida, one in every 148 households received a foreclosure filing. Rounding out the top 10 were Arizona, Utah, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado, Idaho and Ohio.