“I recommend a good digital camera with a flash. It may be useful to document stuff, for insurance purposes or other reasons. You can take pictures of stuff like the water meter and gas/electric meter in case there’s a question about the readings when it comes time to deal with bills, for example. And it may help to have a thorough set of “before” pictures of the house/apartment, to show relatives—you may find you get less resistance from them (and, who knows, maybe even some sympathy) if they see for themselves how bad things really were in the hoarder’s house.
“Some of my relatives who hadn’t been in my mom’s house in years (especially those who lived out of state) were pretty horrified when they saw how she had been living.
“If you don’t have access to a digital camera, a regular camera will be fine too; the digital is just an advantage because you can e-mail the pix to relatives.
“A camcorder may be helpful too if you have one. The company who did our cleanout films everything, for their own protection. That way, if local town officials interfere, they have a record of it and can prove that the bureaucrats cost the client time and money.