Nine years after a judge began supervising a multitude of federal lawsuits that claim homes were damaged by Chinese drywall, he says it’s time to return thousands of remaining cases for trial in the courts where they were filed.

The panel that put Judge Eldon Fallon in charge in 2009 said the first 1,700 would return to Florida’s federal courts if no objections were filed by Thursday. At least three objection notices were filed Thursday by attorneys for about 750 clients. Objectors’ briefs must be filed by April 12, with responses are due May 3, according to the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation’s electronic docket.