Just realized that I posted before as "Messy Me". That might give anyone posting a little more insight. Not sure if I can change my posting name, so they are both the same.

Thanks, Tillie.

The calling the police thing, was mainly to make sure that there wasn't still someone in my house.

Thank you. I sure hope that is the case here!

Having been a locksmith myself
I can assure you that we do NOT care about or report to any authorities on the condition of the houses we work on.
We just need access to the locks and payment on completion of the job.

That would be "no place to go", not "do".

I think I may have had a set of keys stolen, so it is useless to try and lock it up. I am afraid there may be homeless people squatting in my house, off and on. Remember, I am living in my detached laundry room.

I think keys have been stolen. Do locksmiths have to report house conditions? It is an old house. Extremely difficult to make secure, but I have no place else to do, at the moment. Spent the weekend in a motel, which I can ill afford.

Yes, I probably will get a postal box, but not even caring about that right now. I am terrified on all counts!

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

That sounds so scary!

The police are usually useless anyways after a house has been broken into and burglarized.
All they ever do is have you fill out a report, that's all.

Just make sure that you can lock up the place as best you can
ESPECIALLY when you are in there.

If your mail is being tampered with you could get a P.O. box or rent a box at one of those other mail transfer/holding businesses.

Best wishes

I am posting a reply to my own thread. Someone has been in my house and stolen things. They may have stayed overnight in my house. (Please recall that I am living in my detached laundry room. I think they may have been in there also, in my absence.) Not sure if keys were stolen or they broke in. Place isn't very secure. Mail has also been take off porch. I am scared to go to the police, due to the condition of my home. Don't want my house condemned! I am terrified and spent last night in a motel. Short of having my locks changed, what can I do? I am scared on all counts!

Sorry I didn't come back. I've been busy with school.

So, in a year you would be done.

I've been working on my hoard for about ten.

A year is not so bad. I'm sorry that things are going to get ruined, but you can start somewhere and save what you can and toss out the unsalvageable and be done in a year - or you can just let it go and save nothing. It's up to you.

I don't have money for anything other than monthly expenses and paying off my loan. I am not thinking of getting anyone else to help, so guess I'm just stuck. Not enough time for me to clean before everything is ruined. I figure it would take me about a year, since I work 40 hours a week.

Hi PLS,

I think Tillie suggested steric,San because you implied that you could pay for a roof OR help. I don't know how much your roof would cost, but roofs are usually pretty expensive. I don't know how much stericlean would be either, but it seems like it would be cheaper than a roof. You could ask.

Anyway. If you have no money you throw at the problem (or if you were thinking about hiring someone like teenagers just for heavy lifting) I would say - start at the door closest to the stuff you know you need to save. Get a trash can and some secure storage (I like plastic bins - especially if you are worried about water, but boxes can be ok) and open the door. Then move toward the first thing you are looking for as quickly as possible. Toss trash in the can as you go, and when you find an important thing, put it in one of your boxes or bins.

If you can't decide how important something is, or if it is trash, just move it aside - your first goal is to get that important stuff safe before the leaky roof destroys it.

Keep filling trash cans until you have the maximum allowed for pickup, then put them out. After that, you will have to bag the trash and set it outside until you have empty cans again.

Keep going as long as you can and then rest or do whatever other life thing needs your attention. Get back to the project as soon as you can. Don't bring anything new home with you unless you NEED it to eat, wear, or clean with.

Thanks for the good advice, I don't have the money to pay Steri-Clean. I am paying off a large debt consolidation loan and do not wish to get deeper in debt.

Hello PLS :)

The number one priority would be fixing the roof.
Without a good roof the rest will just continue to deteriorate.

The roofing contractors are not required to report anything to the authorities.
They would be there simply to do the roofing job and get paid.

Since the house would be a "tear down", unsalvageable, fixing the roof would be pointless.
The best way to proceed would be to hire a crew.

A Steri-Clean crew would work with you to carefully sort out the treasures from the trash.
You tell them what you want to keep and they will try to find it and save it for you.
They will haul away all the other trash and unwanted things.
Within just a few days this whole process would be all over and done with and you would then be free to begin your new life.

Click on your state on the links to the left of this post to contact a Steri-Clean company near you.

Wishing you all the best (((HUG)))

Dilema: I need to replace my roof. It is leaking and ruining my walls, floors, etc. It has been a problem for a while. Trouble is, roofers would have to come inside. If they did, my house would likely be condemned.

I have not had water for the last two or three years(I shower at the YMCA)and I have a rat problem. I am actually living in a separate building that is my laundry room.

Things definitely need cleaning up. I became a hoarder while going through a divorce and the death of my son. I kept acquiring things in an attempt to feel better and didn't clean up much.

It has been many years and I am in a better place now, but the cleanup is too much for me to handle alone. I can't afford both a new roof and to pay for a cleanup. I have a decent full-time job, but and paying back a rather substantial loan.

I don't want to get friends, colleagues, or the authorities involved in my situation. What should I do first and how do I pay for it?

I really don't want to stay in this house. It needs way too many costly repairs. I just can't walk away because I have lots of photos, yearbooks, and that type of stuff, especially my deceased son's stuff.

It would take about a year to clear things out and clean up. I can't wait that long to get a roof or those things will be ruined. I don't really care about my house. It is only salable for the land. I just need to get things out and they aren't in any semblance of order. Clutter and important stuff are mixed together.

What do I start with and how do I proceed?