In Bourseguin v. Stannard Bros. Holdings Pty Ltd (1991) 1 Qd.R. 231, the court dealt with complex legal issues under the Torrens system of land registration, particularly addressing the principles of indefeasibility of title, exceptions to this principle, and the impact of equitable rights and fraud on registered titles. The case revolved around the sale of land occupied by lessees, including the respondent, who had an unregistered lease agreement for five years. Despite knowledge of the respondent's unregistered but equitable lease, subsequent transactions aimed to ignore her interests, leading to a legal battle over the enforceability of her lease against new registered owners.
The court ultimately held that the respondent possessed a valid equitable lease predating the sales contracts, thereby recognizing the enduring strength of equitable interests against the backdrop of the Torrens title system. The court further determined that the initial purchasers (N. and C.) were not guilty of fraud but found that the subsequent purchaser (T.) committed a form of fraud by attempting to register the land transfer while ignoring the respondent's prior equitable lease.
From the TLDR Caselaw Archive