Whatever the motivation, said Mr. Braunstein, the state housing agency's enforcement chief, harassment of tenants always has the objective of making the tenant move.

But Mr. Lynch's lack of litigation experience made him an unlikely choice when, in 1985, at age 34, he was selected as enforcement chief himself.

For Ramón, the security and enforcement chief, security meant bribing police officers, prosecutors and judges.

The execution was supervised by Walter Roemer, the enforcement chief of the Munich district court.

A new enforcement chief was named at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ms. Flannery is the former enforcement chief of the S.E.C.'s New York regional office.

The clash with other New York officials culminated last month with the resignation of Anne Flannery, the office's enforcement chief.

As S.E.C. enforcement chief during the 1970's, he brought charges against nearly a dozen big companies, accusing them of offering bribes to foreign governments.

"This is completely invisible money," said Kenneth Gross, former enforcement chief for the Federal Election Commission.

Despite the recent successes of the agency, some agency people worry that a bad choice for enforcement chief could be disastrous.