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Date: August 5, 2009 Suspect Chinese drywall could reduce home values further, in the midst of an already depressed South Florida real estate landscape. BY NIRVI SHAH nshah@MiamiHerald.com Broward homeowners who have discovered that defective imported drywall is damaging their homes could be eligible for a break on their property tax bills this year. Homeowners who have documentation that the presence of defective Chinese drywall triggered an insurance claim, a request for assistance from a mortgage company, a lawsuit, or have other paperwork showing the problem exists could see reduced home values, said Ron Gunzburger, general counsel for the Broward property appraiser's office. "Show us some paperwork. Anytime we adjust the value we have to have documentation,'' Gunzburger said. The reduction in value could work like this: If a property is worth $200,000 and it will cost $50,000 to repair, it's value would be $150,000 until the repairs are done, Gunzburger said. But there is no standard deduction, he said. Each home will be evaluated individually. To have the drop in value apply this year, homeowners would need to turn in documents showing they have drywall problems by Sept. 18, property appraiser spokesman Bob Wolfe said. If a residence is in the midst of repairs, homeowners could retain their homestead exemption if they move out and the property's value could be dropped to as little as $10 until repairs are complete, Gunzburger said. The exemption would disappear if the homeowners claimed it elsewhere. Assessments of homes in four neighborhoods in Parkland were cut by 20 percent on top of the fallout from the weak real estate market because drywall ``stigma'' further depressed sales in the area, the property appraiser's office said. The Miami-Dade property appraiser is still figuring out the details about bad drywall's effect on home values, spokesman Patrick Smikle said. As of last week, about 80 homes in Broward and Miami-Dade had registered concerns about drywall with the Florida Department of Health. The combination of the housing boom and destructive hurricanes led to shortages and the importing of drywall from China. By some estimates, tens of thousands of homes statewide and as many as 100,000 nationwide could have the drywall being blamed for corroding air conditioner coils, ruining appliances, triggering nosebleeds and making homes smell like chemicals or rotten eggs.
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