Court gives woman home back in rare ruling reversal

A Toronto woman who lost her home to identity fraudsters has won it back after Ontario's highest court reversed its own decision on a previous case.

Five Court of Appeal judges unanimously ruled Tuesday in favour of Susan Lawrence, a 55-year-old homeowner who lost her home just over a year ago.

The court declared Lawrence the legal owner of her home and ordered a company that had issued the mortgage to fraudsters to pay $25,000 toward Lawrence's legal costs.

Lawrence discovered her house had been stolen last January when she tried to sell it and buy a new one.

"I put for sale sign on my house. I sold it. I had a long closing date and when I went to buy a new one, I was told I didn't own the house I had," she said.

'Ferocious' outcry

Thieves had forged her signature to obtain a nearly $300,000 mortgage on her 100-year-old Victorian home.

In a previous ruling, ajudge restored the title to Lawrence's name, but would not absolve her of the phoney mortgage in her name.

The court was bound by a 2005 Court of Appeal decision, Household Realty vs. Liu, that stated fraudulent mortgages were legally binding once registered.

Public response to the case was "very, very ferocious," said Lawrence, and her lawyer, Morris Cooper, saidthat may have contributed to the unusual reversal.

Cooper says it'svery rare for the Appeals Court to reverse any decision, especially such a recent one.

After a lengthy legal battle, Lawrence is already looking forward to her next challenge finding the thieves.

"That's my next job," she said. "I'm going to harass the police detectives, that's what I can do."