It sometimes happens that a person's apartment is trashed. It might have been a burglary, vandalism, a party that got out of hand, teen-age enthusiasm, an emotional breakdown, perhaps even a violent act of nature. In any case, the place is a mess. Where to begin?

Take Charge

Secure the Premises

Assess the Damage

Develop a Work Force

Create Protocols

Get Storage Space

Arrange for Transportation

Oversee the Work

Define Ways to Prevent Future Occurrences

Take Charge

In a chaotic situation there needs to be one head, one central authority or things just get worse and even out of control. If you are in a position to take charge and you think you are the best person, just do it. Most people will prefer not to have the job. If there is someone else you think is best for the position, nominate them and make a clear case for selecting that person. Get agreement from the people involved so that person will have a free hand to make important decisions.

Secure the Premises

See to it that strangers cannot get into the apartment. Looters are ever ready to act.

Assess the Damage

Take photographs of everything you can. Try to evaluate which items are worth salvaging and which are best throw out or given to charity. If there is insurance, get the adjuster out to see the damage before you make changes.

Develop a Work Force

Find at least one responsible person to share the burden of decision-making and delegating work. Then hire or find friends who will help and who will follow orders and not quibble about your decisions.

Create Protocols

Establish what rules apply to whom and what payments will be made to whom; determine who has entry privileges and whose word is to be followed by others. Establish something of a hierarchy of responsibility. This person is in charge of cleaning, this in charge of transportation, etc.

Get Storage Space

Rent a space, use a lockable truck, use someone's garage, etc. in order to store stuff temporarily while clean up, carpet replacement, painting, takes place.

Arrange for Transportation

Hire a truck or get a friend who has one to help with the necessary trip to storage and charity outfits. People who are helping may need to be picked up and taken home.

Oversee the Work

Watch what people are doing. Provide refreshments, drinks, snacks, forbid alcohol.

Define Ways to Prevent Future Occurrences

Evaluate how this event happened and see if legal arrangements can be made that will enable you to forestall such problems in the future, including having keys and legal access before something happens.