Lake Ashton Management Replacing Tainted Chinese Drywall in East Polk Community

WINTER HAVEN | Lake Ashton is cleaning up its Chinese drywall problem.

Homeowners in the East Polk retirement community say they met with management and were told their homes will be completely stripped of the tainted material and fixed within months.

Lake Ashton officials will not charge for the remediation and will provide funds for temporary housing and other costs during the repairs, according to three homeowners interviewed by The Ledger.

"I think they're going to meet all of my concerns," said Arnold Loomis, 77, who moved out of his home in late 2009 after an independent inspector determined it was made with defective Chinese drywall. "They're doing, I think, everything they possibly could to take care of us. We're very pleased."

Lake Ashton officials did not return calls seeking comment for this story. The gated retirement community was developed by MasterCraft Homes and is managed by Lakeland-based Century Residential, which is owned by Larry Maxwell.

In February, the AmeriSpec home inspection company in Eagle Lake told The Ledger it found the tainted drywall in 13 houses at Lake Ashton. Homeowners said they complained to management but months went by with no response. Some residents told The Ledger they feared for their health and the value of their houses, but had nowhere else to go.

The defective, Chinese-made drywall, which emits a pungent sulfur smell and corrodes metals, is thought to have been used in 35,000 Florida homes and 100,000 houses nationwide. The material was primarily used in Florida homes built between 2004 and 2008, a period marked by the housing boom and post-hurricane rebuilding.

Affected homeowners have found little support from insurers and government agencies. On March 12, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would not offer assistance for Florida homeowners with the defective drywall.

Some homebuilders, such as Lennar Corp., have been fixing homes for their customers.

Loomis said he was told the remediation process for his home will take three to four months while workers strip the house of all drywall and check for damage.

His neighbor, Jackie Sobania-Robison, will temporarily relocate to an empty unit in Lake Ashton on May 1 as her home is repaired.

"It's such an intense process the home is going to go through to be remediated," said Sobania-Robison, 62. "I'm very, very satisfied."

Lake Ashton residents Verb and Lorene Freeman also say they have confirmed remediation plans with Lake Ashton management.

Ron Maness, who owns an investment home in Lake Ashton and was previously featured in a Ledger report, said he is still waiting on a response from the developer.

According to the Polk County Property Appraiser, a total of 24 homeowners in Polk have requested write-downs to their home values because of problems with Chinese drywall.

[ Kyle Kennedy can be reached at kyle.kennedy@theledger.com or 863-802-7584. ]