KEY POINTS:
A family whose alleged antics were described as similar to an episode of the Sopranos are still in their home almost a year after Housing New Zealand tried to evict them.
But the Salt family from Mt Albert - dubbed neighbours from hell - are about to face
another court challenge.
Housing NZ spokeswoman Belinda Abernathy says the department has appealed to the District Court to overturn a Tenancy Tribunal decision allowing the family to stay in their Range View Rd home.
A hearing date is expected to be set soon.
The Salts - led by matriarch Sharon Salt - found national notoriety in the middle of last year after desperate neighbours forced Housing NZ to take the family to the tribunal.
Numerous complaints had been made about the family's so-called reign of terror on the street.
They included accusations that out-of-control Salt offspring - of whom there are 10 - were vandalising property, assaulting others and generally causing mayhem.
At last June's hearing, Housing NZ manager Villy Coetze said exasperated neighbours had claimed Salt family members urinated on fences and shot fireworks at other residents.
But Salt lawyer John Foliaki said the claims were "malicious and false".
"There was talk about gang retaliation and witnesses having to be protected or move house. It was all getting out of hand. At one stage, I thought I was in the middle of a Sopranos case."
The tribunal eventually found in favour of the Salts at a rehearing, rejecting Housing NZ arguments and leaving neighbours - many of whom had given evidence at the hearing - feeling vulnerable.
Tribunal adjudicator Amanda Elliot ruled there was insufficient evidence to end the tenancy and there had been only a few disruptions since a breach notice was issued in January last year.
The decision sparked an outcry, and local MP and Prime Minister Helen Clark joined the row. "We believe the neighbours," she said.
Almost 11 months on Range View Rd residents are still loath to insult the Salts. One neighbour believes the family are merely keeping quiet until the matter is settled by the courts, before raising hell again.
The woman, who has lived on the street for 35 years, said the Salts had been "keeping a low profile" since the hearing and subsequent appeal, though the occasional rowdy child provided a hint of what could be in the street's future.
The woman said she and her family would leave the street if the Housing NZ appeal did not succeed.
Newer residents, though aware of the Salts' reputation, had noted little disturbance from them of late.
Ms Abernathy said there had been "a few minor complaints" about the Salts in the past year, but they had been "temporary in nature and have been sorted out quickly".
A Salt family representative told the Herald the family would be making no comment about the Range View Rd tenancy.
Mr Foliaki did not return calls.
