Depending on the size of the entity, they may choose one or several of the following tactics:
- Read emails but never respond.
- Hire external PR firms to manage optics and deflect accountability.
- Use internal press teams as gatekeepers, refusing to speak with anyone else inside the organization.
- Rely on the “we can’t investigate” trick — because acknowledging portfolio-wide risk is their kryptonite. No matter how obvious the patterns, or how many residents are endangered, they will deny any broader responsibility.
- Use settlements and NDAs to shut down complaints and silo off anything that could expose systemic risks across their portfolio.
- No matter how much stress or gaslighting they impose, they will fixate on any ‘out of character’ behaviour they provoke — using it to discredit the victim.
- Initiate fake legal enquiries through corrupt law firms, fishing for the legal strategies a resident might use in court.
- Switch between entities — for example, moving toxic properties between estate agents — to obscure the paper trail.
- Harass residents, stage incidents, or provoke confrontations designed to discredit them — sometimes escalating to direct attacks.
- Engage regulators performatively, submitting minimal responses while privately undermining investigations.
- Delay every step of the process — to wear residents down emotionally and financially.
- Use selective data disclosure to present a distorted version of reality, hiding key documents or timelines.
- Elevate hostile or incompetent intermediaries to keep residents trapped in circular blame.
- Maintain end-to-end corruption — from managing agents to law firms to regulators — because systemic corruption only survives when every checkpoint is compromised.
The problem with all these corrupt tactics is that they’re rooted in short-term thinking and trigger a spiral of cover-ups. Once underway, this creates a trail that deeply compromises the institutions involved and ultimately reinforces the credibility of the residents.