Raccoon infestation leaves NYC family with $100,000 repair bill

These robberies cost the Brooklyn family $100,000.

raccoons running wild In Alice and David Zaslavsky’s $1.2 million Brooklyn home defecated everywhere, chewed wires and terrified the couple’s 9-year-old daughter, before they were eventually deported.

And while the flea-bitten creatures are now gone, Zaslavsky is still not out of the woods.

Contractors estimate that the ninja furball caused $100,000 in damage to the three-bedroom, 1,930-square-foot home, and the family’s insurance company will not cover the cost of the required months of repairs.

“There’s this little clause in our homeowner’s insurance that says they don’t clean up wildlife secretions that they consider toxic. Raccoon poo,” a frustrated Alice Zaslavsky told The Post of the EmGuard policy.

The problem began more than two years ago when the city issued a stop-work order to a neighbor two doors down at 194 Minna St. in Kensington. The owner, Majestic Holdings, was reportedly operating without a permit.

The company left the house, which had been vacant for more than a year, in a dilapidated condition, with “numerous holes”. , , To the outside,” Zaslavskis said in court papers.

According to the Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit, filed in September 2023 and settled a month later, “One night, (the couple) woke up and were staring at the face of a raccoon hanging down from one of the access panels opened by the raccoon. “

An exterminator found that the creatures were entering through 194 Minna, crawling through connected houses and ending up in Zaslavsky’s two-story house.

The family said the raccoon chewed through new HVAC ductwork, new electrical wiring, ate insulation and stained the ceiling by defecating.

Living with the constant smell of toxic animal feces and knowing there were wild animals above their heads left the family with PTSD, she said.

“It came to a head one morning in September 2023, when raccoons came into our master bedroom breaking the HVAC access panel, and we decided it was time to take legal action,” Alice Zaslavsky said.

“After three appeals and over $30,000 in legal fees, the final judge ruled that the homeowner must close all access points,” he said.

However, no damage was done and Zaslavsky had to pay $1,000 for an exterminator.

The exterminator caught five baby raccoons and their mother in the attic crawlspace. “He was . . . released back into the wild on Long Island,” Alice Zaslavsky said.

To make future repairs, Zaslavsky would have to temporarily relocate.

“We have to pack the second floor of our house as if we are moving. Everything has to go into storage. We can’t stay home during that time because of the toxicity,” she said.

“We have a huge bag of repairs left. We are still paying our legal bills from last year,” he lamented.

“We cannot make repairs unless insurance agrees to pay. We don’t have $100,000 of liquid money to pay the bills,” Alice Zaslavsky explained.

“We have already appealed twice. We will continue to appeal until they do the right thing,” the homeowner said.