Again, it's where IC has IC consequences. I know my tone is rather rude, but having several different people explain the same thing over and over can have that effect. Also, they can have access to equivalent gear, go out and dungeon/ninja like the rest of us have to. I think it's worth noting that the RVT gear seldom gets handed out, I mean I got a nifty sword, but compared to what drops on the loot-tables, it's on-par if not a little worse. I'd also like to point out that the reason most people don't see decent loot is that they farm areas that are at 30% spawn level, and everyone farms it, even if it's at 1% so it never builds up. If people farmed less, and dungeoned every now and then, everyone would have a lot of good loot. Also note, some factions have nice gear that the RVT doesn't have access to for sneaks, does that mean that the RVT should get access to it? The Gundarakites have some nifty hide gear, does that mean that everyone should get access to those? The Dawnbringers have a nifty spear at low levels, yet the only places that they drop are at level 5-6 areas.
Also worth noting I am not a member of the RVT any more. I'm just viewing my own opinions here. Several factions have nice things, and until everything is spayed out in to the loot tables, I see no reason for any specific faction to need them. Also note that more often than not the RVT employees aren't goons, there is also nothing saying that you can't ask a DM to posess an NPC so that you can mug it if you know it is in the RVT. There are many IG alternatives to things, and getting most of them is far easier than dungeon farming/ninja'ing if you're actually interested in the RP.
I think the main thing also is that many people don't have 'strong' builds to excel at the field that their character supposedly excels at. +8-+12 lockpicks drop like candy in the PoA sewers, below the Oprhanage in Barovia (past the hag) and in many other places. If you look about a few places and sample the seemingly random loot, you can typically tell based off of loot content what loot containers belong to what sub-category eg (Minor, Medium, Major) and then the other categories the devs have in place for items with uses, etc, etc. I just wish to stress the fact that faction gear should be irrelevant imo, as most of it is trash compared to loot you can obtain at level 8 if you form a well-rounded group.