Dunmore Exclusives

Dunmore Exclusives owns many properties throughout Luzerne and Lackawanna County; you would be well advised to stay away from all of them.
Several years ago I was a tenant at West River Apartments. Though my apartment was in Wilkes-​Barre I had to drive up to the Dunmore Exclusives office in Scranton and sign my lease there. It was quite an inconvenience, but very minor when compared to the troubles that would follow.
My first impression of the apartment building was positive, but I was sorely mistaken. West River Apartments is in a terrible location, located directly between a mini mart that continually gets robbed and a block full of drug dealers.
After a few months of living at the apartment water leaked through my ceiling, entered the closet, and damaged the apartment. I informed the landlord of the damage to the premises. I asked that he repair the water damage, as the leak was not my fault, or subtract money from the monthly rent so I could buy materials to make the repairs myself. In a series of sarcastic emails the landlord informed me that he was not responsible for the leak and I was on my own to make any repairs to the apartment.
Three months later there was another leak that resulted in the evacuation of the apartment building. Wilkes-​Barre Fire Captain John Murtha was on scene investigating the leak. Captain Murtha began talking to one of my neighbors, an elderly woman, and me. He asked us if there had been any previous leaks at West River Apartments and we both replied in the affirmative.
A Dunmore Exclusives employee, who saw us talking to the fire captain, became belligerent and demanded to know our names; I refused to give him my name and he took a picture of me, presumably to show to the landlord. Captain Murtha threatened to call the police on the Dunmore Exclusives employee unless he stopped harassing my neighbor and me. Captain Murtha later took me aside and gave me his business card, asking me to call him if there were any future problems with Dunmore Exclusives. I was informed of Dunmore Exclusives’ poor reputation among city workers and how Wilkes-​Barre Mayor Tom Leighton had personally received numerous complaints regarding the building.
Less than a month later there was another leak in my apartment. Water gushed out of my bedroom closet, bathroom ceiling, bathroom closet, and living room closet. The force of the water would cause my bathroom ceiling to collapse. I immediately placed a call to the Dunmore Exclusives office but they were not answering. I left several more messages that were ignored before finally calling the Wilkes-​Barre fire department to come to the apartment and fix the leak.
Dunmore Exclusives finally contacted me three days later. In the meantime neither the fire department nor I could get in contact with the landlord or any of his employees. A maintenance man came to my apartment and removed the ceiling tiles that had fallen into my bathroom. Though the maintenance man said he would return the next day, it was to be the last time I would see or have contact with anyone from Dunmore Exclusives.
At this time there was mold growing in my closet from the leak. I tried to contact the office repeatedly over the next month but my calls and messages were ignored. I had no choice but to move out at the end of August.
After my exodus from West River Apartments I moved to Scranton for a few years. I became friendly with a Lackawanna housing inspector. He informed me that Dunmore Exclusives owned many blighted properties throughout the area and were the bane of the housing authority’s existence.