The first thing that comes to mind when you think of luxury homes isn’t toxic materials, it’s high-quality and durable materials. Unfortunately, many home building companies don’t use high-quality materials when they are building luxury homes. Instead, they try to take as many shortcuts as possible, so that they can maximize the profit that they make.
If you are worried about buying a luxury home that’s been built with toxic or harmful materials, then you need to know your rights. This post will tell you what they are, as well as how you can protect them:
Material Usage
Toxic materials being used in your luxury home’s construction can cause health problems for you and your family. The use of toxic chemicals and materials can cause serious health issues and even death. Take paraquat, for example. Paraquat is an agricultural herbicide used throughout the United States. In recent years, lawyers specializing in and providing paraquat MDL updates say that the amount of lawsuits is on the rise. If you have been exposed to a toxic chemical because of the negligence of your home’s builders, then you need to take action.
Prior Inspection
You have a right to know what’s being used in your home’s construction. Before you purchase a property (or while you are going through the purchase procedure), you have a right to go to the property that you’re interested in buying and see what the construction workers are doing. As long as you wear safety equipment, you should be able to inspect the entire property. It’s also a good idea to hire a professional home inspector to inspect the property for you and create a report on it.
Company Research
You also have a right to know what the name of the company that built your house is. The realtor that you purchase your property from should be able to tell you this. Once you know the company’s name you can begin researching them online. If you discover that they have taken shortcuts in the past with people’s homes, then there’s a strong chance that they might have done the same thing with yours. If it does turn out that the company that built your home is notorious for shortcuts and the use of toxic chemicals, you can hire a professional home inspector to come into your home and see if they have been used in your property’s construction.
Development Stages
If the property that you are not buying is not yet built, then it gives you an opportunity to check your house out during all of its developmental stages. You can go to the property’s physical site and check up on what the construction team is doing, what materials they are using, and what the property’s progress is. As mentioned twice already, it’s a good idea to hire somebody who knows what they are looking for to accompany you. Remember, because your house is in active construction, you won’t be able to freely wander around the site without the foreman’s permission.
Other Properties
If other properties are being built in the area, then you could ask to inspect them too. If the company building your house is building others, then inspecting them will give you a clearer picture of the kind of work that’s going into yours. If they are taking shortcuts and using toxic chemicals as building materials in other properties, then there’s a strong chance that they are doing the same in yours. Again, you will likely need the foreman’s permission before you can go walking around and exploring other properties.
Legal Aid
If you do suspect that toxic chemicals have been used, then you need to contact a lawyer and ask for their help. A lawyer that specializes in getting people compensation after toxic chemicals have been found in their houses will be able to talk you through your rights and what your options are. More often than not, they will recommend that you file a lawsuit against the company that built your house. These kinds of lawsuits can result in very large settlements being made, usually out of court.
Lawsuit
As mentioned in the last point, it’s very likely that your lawyer will recommend that you file a lawsuit and that the lawsuit will be paid out of court. The reason that companies offer to make payments to individuals out of court is so that they don’t develop a bad reputation in the media. Private settlements are made nearly exclusively to keep the company that’s being sued out of the newspapers. If you want to make it known that the company is taking shortcuts, however, then you can refuse their settlement and you can go to court. Cases that involve toxic chemicals being used as building materials nearly always achieve a lot of exposure.
Regular Communication
If your house is being built and you’re unable to go down and check on it, then it’s important to keep in regular communication with the company that is building it. This is so that they can give you updates. It’s a good idea to ask them to tell you about all of the building materials that they are using. If they send you a list of materials and you later discover that they haven’t used them and have instead used something that’s toxic, you will have a very strong case and are almost guaranteed to win your lawsuit.
Owner Networking
Lastly, it’s a good idea to network with other property owners in the area. This is so that if they discover toxic chemicals have been used in their property’s construction, they can tell you and you can make a lawsuit claim together. This will only work if the homeowners with whom you are networking had their houses built by the same company that built yours. If their properties were built by different companies, then it’s unlikely that you will both have had the same materials used.
Toxic chemicals are present in a lot of people’s houses, and they don’t even know it. There are still some houses that have asbestos in them. If you suspect toxic chemicals have been used in the construction of your house, then you could be entitled to a lot of money. A lawyer will be able to work with you to get it.
