It's every home buyer's worst nightmare a Gold Coast couple discovering they didn't own the house they thought they'd bought at auction five years earlier. Now after a lengthy legal battle they've finally been awarded millions of dollars in compensation.
00:00 Leaving court with a grin from ear to ear and two thumbs up.
00:06 After years of living in limbo, finally resolution.
00:10 Incredibly relieved, like it's been such a long six years and to have that original decision confirmed and unanimously was just enormous.
00:21 In 2018 the Moorcrofts bought this mermaid beach home at auction for more than $1.2 million.
00:28 They'd left their life in Victoria to buy a dream home on the Gold Coast but five years after moving in were told to leave with the Supreme Court ruling the home still belonged to its previous owner.
00:40 The woman who had owned the house claimed her signature had been forged on mortgage documents that eventually led to the sale.
00:47 She sued the couple to get the house back.
00:49 It's just been a constant roller coaster and you've had to learn a lot along the way and the stress has been unbelievable at times.
00:57 It's just been exhausting, certainly in the last couple of years particularly when everything seemed to go against us.
01:03 Last year the Supreme Court found the Moorcrofts were also victims of the mortgage fraud and ordered they be paid compensation.
01:10 The state of Queensland appealed but today that appeal was dismissed, clearing the way for the couple to receive their $2.7 million payout.
01:19 I know that a really good and decent family has been compensated for an outrage that was perpetrated against them.
01:28 The state government can still appeal today's decision to the High Court but they're hopeful that won't be the case, desperate for this to be the end of nearly six years of turmoil.
01:39 We just hope to God it's done.
01:41 But for now celebration is in order.
01:44 So I think right now we'll just go off a beer, find a pub somewhere.
01:48 Perhaps after that, preparing to find their next dream home.
