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NYC funeral home could finally lose license with latest shocking lawsuit alleging man’s body was left to rot for days
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NYC funeral home could finally lose license with latest shocking lawsuit alleging man’s body was left to rot for days

A beleaguered funeral home may finally have its license revoked, just as a troubling new lawsuit further tarnishes its reputation.

RG Ortiz Funeral Homes in the Bronx is facing “fines and a potential license revocation” following the “outcome of findings” of a state Department of Health investigation, a spokesman told The Post on Monday.

The spokesman said the health department, which regulates the licensing of funeral directors in New York through its Office of Funeral Directors, could not comment specifically on the investigation or allegations.

Meanwhile, Ortiz is being sued again, this time for failing to properly care for the body of a beloved father—whose body arrived decomposing for a second funeral in the Dominican Republic.

RG Ortiz Funeral Homes in the Bronx is being sued again for leaving a body to rot in its viewing room, according to a lawsuit and the family's attorney. Helayne SeidmanRG Ortiz Funeral Homes in the Bronx is being sued again for leaving a body to rot in its viewing room, according to a lawsuit and the family's attorney. Helayne Seidman

RG Ortiz Funeral Homes in the Bronx is being sued again for leaving a body to rot in its viewing room, according to a lawsuit and the family’s attorney. Helayne Seidman

His family was so horrified to find their father in such an advanced state of decay that they decided to skip the second viewing and go straight to a funeral, the suit claims.

The body sat in the Bronx funeral home’s viewing room for nearly eight days, according to a lawyer representing the devastated family.

“Eight days in the viewing room — unrefrigerated and unembalmed,” said attorney Phil Rizzuto, who told The Post he has nearly 10 lawsuits pending against Ortiz. “I can’t imagine how. The body must have smelled, right?

An attorney representing the troubled funeral home in numerous lawsuits did not respond to a request for comment.

The latest lawsuit, last filed in Bronx Supreme Court last week, comes less than a month after another family accused the funeral home of sending their beloved grandmother’s body to the wrong country and allowing her remains to decompose as well, horrifying the woman’s survivors.

Another family also sued RG Ortiz Funeral Home last month after a beloved grandmother was sent to the wrong destination 1,400 miles away and left to decompose for two weeks, the suit claims their. Dennis A. ClarkAnother family also sued RG Ortiz Funeral Home last month after a beloved grandmother was sent to the wrong destination 1,400 miles away and left to decompose for two weeks, the suit claims their. Dennis A. Clark

Another family also sued RG Ortiz Funeral Home last month after a beloved grandmother was sent to the wrong destination 1,400 miles away and left to decompose for two weeks, the suit claims their. Dennis A. Clark

Even before patriarch Antonio Cerda Garcia died earlier this year on March 25, his family made arrangements with Ortiz for him to be buried in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the lawsuit states.

Garcia’s body was sent to the funeral home the day he died, and it assumed responsibility for his body’s preparation and “proper and sanitary transportation” to the Dominican Republic, according to the suit.

But after days of waiting, his body finally arrived on April 8 “in a state of decomposition, unpreserved,” the family’s lawsuit says, forcing the family to cancel the funeral service and proceed with just a funeral.

“It’s just bizarre that they don’t care about their customers,” Rizzuto said.

“It’s just bizarre that they don’t care about their clients,” the family’s lawyer said. Paul Martinka

A chain of funeral homes with locations in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn, Ortiz has been around for a long time hot water over the accusations of their contempt for the dead – with claims of desecration falling behind until 2017.

Last summer, the city’s Department of Consumer and Labor Protection obtained a settlement worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for overseas customers alleged predatory and deceptive practices.

Agency spokesman Michael Lanza said New Yorkers injured by Ortiz can make a restitution request by calling 311 or by visiting their website.

The state Attorney General’s Office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.