KEY POINTS:
It's a fairly tidy street with neatly mown lawns, but residents of Range View Rd live in fear of the neighbours from hell.
Fear of being attacked, fear of their property being damaged, fear of being verbally abused - and even fear of being killed.
The cause, in
the Auckland suburb of Owairaka, is a houseful of youth-gang members who live in a single-storey, five-bedroom Housing New Zealand property.
One local resident keeps a crowbar by the front door for protection. Another says the youths are terrorising the neighbourhood. But this may be coming to an end.
The tenants were issued with an eviction notice on Thursday, much to the neighbourhood's relief.
The five young gang members - aged between 16 and 25 - live with their parents in the state house. "Hangers-on" come and go.
Police regularly visit the house and have received a constant stream of complaints from neighbours.
Constable Nigel Turnbull said the youths were "exceptionally well-known" to police and several of them were awaiting court appearances.
They are part of a gang called DMS, which stands for dope, money, sex.
"There is a real crime issue on the street in relation to an address and that is why we are warning people to be cautious and use wisdom," he said.
"It's not your standard suburban street where you would imagine you could walk your dog after 6pm."
He said the youths were opportunistic criminals who would exploit anybody walking or driving alone.
In one incident, the youths dragged a visitor to a nearby address out of his car, assaulted him and stole his vehicle.
And residents of the street are scared. One woman, who didn't want to be named, said she was afraid to open the door at night.
"They sit around drinking and use bad words. We don't walk around at night and we don't go to the local park.
"We've been broken into and had things stolen. They throw things at cars and smash windows. It's quite a dangerous neighbourhood," she said.
Another resident said the tenants had lived at the address for more than 10 years, but things had got particularly bad in the last couple of years.
"If they don't stop, they will kill," said the resident, who described the youths as a terrorising force.
When the Herald told another resident the tenants had been issued with an eviction notice, they said it was "wonderful news" and hugged the reporter and photographer.
Housing Minister Chris Carter said the tenants had been given notification on Thursday that Housing New Zealand intended to terminate their tenancy.
The agency hadn't acted sooner because it had been waiting for evidence of illegal activity taking place in the house.
"The police came up with some evidence [on Wednesday] and we acted on that. We think the evidence is sufficient to sustain a strong case to the Tenancy Tribunal.
"Under the Tenancy Act, we can't just kick somebody out of the house ... unless you can prove they've broken the tenancy agreement. You have to take them to the tribunal and to do that you have to have evidence of illegal activity, which we have."
He said Housing New Zealand had been aware of problems with the tenants since the beginning of the year.
