A FAMILY of raccoons have left one family with a major mess to clean up – and a $100,000 repair bill.
The trash pandas that broke into Alice and David Zaslavsky’s home managed to poop and pee everywhere, chew through wiring, and traumatize the couple’s nine-year-old daughter before they were eventually removed.
Raccoons have cost a family $100,000 in home repairs[/caption]
The family’s insurance company reportedly won’t cover the repairs [FILE IMAGE][/caption]
The couple found a family of raccoons living in their attic[/caption]
But the crafty critters’ dramatic rampage through the Zaslavsky’s $1.2 million home in Brooklyn, New York, was only the beginning of their woes.
Now the family face at least a month’s worth of repairs to their three-bedroom home and, what’s worse, their insurance company won’t foot the bill.
Insurer AmGuard reportedly told the couple they won’t cover the damage wrought by the creatures because of a little-known rule in their policy.
“We have this tiny little clause in our homeowner’s insurance that says they do not clean up wildlife secretions which they deem toxic,” Alice told The New York Post in an interview.
That includes raccoon poo.
The Zaslavsky’s claim the raccoons were living in a derelict property two doors down from their row house in Kensington after the city slapped a stop-work order on them two years ago.
After the building was left in a state of disrepair by the owners, an exterminator found that the flea-covered animals were entering the Zaslavsky’s house through their neighbor’s property.
According to a Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit, one night, the couple were woken up by “a raccoon hanging down from one of the access panels pushed open by the raccoons.”
Their unwelcome houseguests chewed through the new HVAC ductwork and new electric wiring, ate the insulation, and stained the ceiling with their feces.
The lawsuit was filed in September 2023 and settled the following month.
Alice and David say the constant smell of toxic animal feces and the knowledge that wild animals were living above their heads gave them PTSD.
After a lengthy legal battle that cost the family $30,000 in fees, the judge ruled their neighbor had to close any access points.
But the Zaslavskys still ended up having to pay $1,000 for an exterminator.
The exterminator caught five baby raccoons and their mother in the attic crawl space of the two-story home and released them back into the wild on Long Island.
Now the Zaslavskys face having to leave their home while the repairs are completed.
“We can’t do the repairs until insurance agrees to pay,” Alice said. “We don’t have $100,000 liquid to foot the bill.
The U.S. Sun has approached AmGuard for comment.
According to the Humane Society of the United States, the most common signs that raccoons might be on your property include noises from the roof, signs of droppings, and tracks.
The best ways to prevent raccoons from invading your home include cutting off their potential food supply.
That means keeping trash cans and compost bins securely fastened, attaching raccoon repellents to the lids, and installing motion-activated lights to keep them at bay.
