A Perth woman who paid her retired parents more than $550,000 believing she was buying their $1.1 million Swanbourne home is now being sued by them for unpaid rent, in an escalating family court battle. Breanna Lane took her parents, Alan and Wendy Briggs, to the Supreme Court of Western Australia in July to block a sale, arguing an informal agreement meant the property would eventually become hers if she kept up monthly payments; her parents insisted she and her husband were always simply tenants, with no such deal ever made.

The court ultimately ordered the house sold, as neither side could afford repayments that were due to rise from $5,500 to $10,500 a month, though the judge left open the possibility Ms Lane could later claim a share of the roughly $800,000 sale profit. In a fresh twist, the Briggses have now filed a separate claim in the Perth Magistrate's Court seeking $8,480 in unpaid rent, termination of the lease and the family's eviction before settlement with new buyers, which was due on 31 August. The couple say they face "undue hardship" and could be financially ruined by 2032 if forced to keep covering the $1.2 million loan; the case, adjourned from Wednesday, is next due in court on 16 September.