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Thursday, March 5, 2009
Uninhabitable FEMA Trailers Wind Up as Housing
The word “scrap” implies use for things other than living space, yet trailers used as housing after hurricanes Katrina and Rita meant for the scrap lot have wound up in mobile home parks. Tens of thousands of the trailers used by victims of the hurricanes were uninhabitable almost from the start due to high levels of airborne formaldehyde. As a result of thousands of people becoming ill while living in the trailers, a lawsuit, brought forth by at least 40,000 plaintiffs will go forward later this year. The defendants include the manufacturers of the trailers, the federal government, and the four companies that installed them.
Exposure to high levels of formaldehyde can cause severe headaches, respiratory problems and other long-term effects. The levels of formaldehyde found in the FEMA trailers were estimated to be around five times higher than those levels found in homes built today.
FEMA officials say that designating a trailer as scrap goes beyond the formaldehyde problem. The trailers may also have damaged roofing, walls, floors, or other things that make them uninhabitable.
However, when the General Services Administration began auctioning off the tens of thousands of trailers meant as scrap, and all the official paperwork and stickers on the trailers declares them as such, some groups found they could buy up lots of the trailers for cheap. They then turned them out as homes for people in Missouri and Georgia. Building inspectors in both states have discovered this and, when they asked the mobile home operators about it, they were told the issue “had been taken care of.”
The federal and state government agencies both knew that these trailers were to be sold as scrap, as well as moved to make it obvious these trailers were not meant to be lived in again, so what happened?
The mobile home parks in Missouri and Georgia where the FEMA trailers were found are owned by a New York company called KDM Development Corp. They state that they own 47 mobile home parks in 18 states, so it is unclear if there are FEMA trailers that have not been discovered yet. And, because it seems a little unclear whether the company or the purchaser of the trailers can be sanctioned, those who have been living in them may be unaware of the formaldehyde issue, much less if anything can be done. Missouri Public Service Commission has issued a consumer alert, and has warned that owners of the mobile homes and mobile parks may face legal action if it is found these FEMA trailers are being used as habitation.
If you or a loved one is living in a mobile home you believe was part of FEMA’s fleet of uninhabitable trailers, and you have become ill or otherwise injured, please contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at the Cochran Firm. We serve clients nationwide.
Exposure to high levels of formaldehyde can cause severe headaches, respiratory problems and other long-term effects. The levels of formaldehyde found in the FEMA trailers were estimated to be around five times higher than those levels found in homes built today.
FEMA officials say that designating a trailer as scrap goes beyond the formaldehyde problem. The trailers may also have damaged roofing, walls, floors, or other things that make them uninhabitable.
However, when the General Services Administration began auctioning off the tens of thousands of trailers meant as scrap, and all the official paperwork and stickers on the trailers declares them as such, some groups found they could buy up lots of the trailers for cheap. They then turned them out as homes for people in Missouri and Georgia. Building inspectors in both states have discovered this and, when they asked the mobile home operators about it, they were told the issue “had been taken care of.”
The federal and state government agencies both knew that these trailers were to be sold as scrap, as well as moved to make it obvious these trailers were not meant to be lived in again, so what happened?
The mobile home parks in Missouri and Georgia where the FEMA trailers were found are owned by a New York company called KDM Development Corp. They state that they own 47 mobile home parks in 18 states, so it is unclear if there are FEMA trailers that have not been discovered yet. And, because it seems a little unclear whether the company or the purchaser of the trailers can be sanctioned, those who have been living in them may be unaware of the formaldehyde issue, much less if anything can be done. Missouri Public Service Commission has issued a consumer alert, and has warned that owners of the mobile homes and mobile parks may face legal action if it is found these FEMA trailers are being used as habitation.
If you or a loved one is living in a mobile home you believe was part of FEMA’s fleet of uninhabitable trailers, and you have become ill or otherwise injured, please contact the experienced personal injury lawyers at the Cochran Firm. We serve clients nationwide.
posted by Benjamin A. Irwin at 9:11 AM
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