Graceland Saved From Public sale For Now, Courtroom Chancellor Guidelines
The historic mansion the place Elvis as soon as lived will stay within the Presley household’s arms following a lawsuit filed by the actor Riley Keough, Elvis’ granddaughter, which alleged the corporate attempting to promote it had dedicated fraud.
At Inman Connect Las Vegas, July 30-Aug. 1 2024, the noise and misinformation will probably be banished, all of your large questions will probably be answered, and new enterprise alternatives will probably be revealed. Join us.
Graceland has been saved from the public sale block for now, a Tennessee courtroom chancellor ruled on Wednesday.
A foreclosures public sale of the historic property the place Elvis Presley lived for 20 years had been deliberate for Thursday, however in a courtroom listening to Wednesday, Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins mentioned the ultimate dedication on the house’s future could be made at a later listening to as soon as it turns into clear who holds rightful possession of the mansion.
Actor Riley Keough, the eldest daughter of Lisa Marie Presley and sole granddaughter of Elvis, had earlier this month filed a lawsuit in an try to cease the auctioning off of Graceland, in keeping with varied reviews.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL INDEX SURVEY FOR MAY
The listening to on Wednesday decided that the public sale of the property would irreparably hurt Keough, who took possession of the property and vacationer attraction final yr, CNN reported.
“The property is taken into account distinctive beneath Tennessee legislation, and in being distinctive the lack of the actual property will probably be thought-about irreparable hurt,” Jenkins mentioned.
Courtroom papers filed by Keough’s legal professionals allege that the corporate that had tried to place the storied mansion and vacationer attraction up for auction fraudulently claimed Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, had borrowed cash and used Graceland as collateral. Courtroom paperwork say the corporate in query, Naussany Investments & Personal Lending LLC, “seems to be a false identification,” and that paperwork surrounding the mortgage are additionally fraudulent.
Naussany Investments filed a public notice of foreclosure sale on Could 19, 2024 in Tennessee, claiming Lisa Marie Presley had defaulted on a $3.8 million mortgage made to her by the corporate. Following her default, the group mentioned it took possession of the house and could be promoting to the best bidder come Thursday.
“Elvis Presley Enterprises can affirm that these claims are fraudulent,” the group that manages Graceland mentioned in a press release. “The counter lawsuit has been filed to cease the fraud.”
Chancery Courtroom in Shelby County, Tennessee, had granted Keough a brief restraining order on the sale final week forward of Wednesday’s listening to.
Graceland lounge | Credit score: Terry Waggoner / Wikimedia Commons
Months after Lisa Marie Presley died, Naussany Investments revealed paperwork claiming that she had borrowed $3.8 million from the corporate and “gave a deed of belief encumbering Graceland as safety,” in keeping with paperwork Elvis Presley Enterprises confirmed to The New York Times.
A promissory be aware associated to the debt seemed to be notarized in Florida in 2018, however the notary named on the doc not too long ago signed an affidavit stating that she had “by no means met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever notarized a doc signed by Lisa Marie Presley.”
Efforts made by The NYT and The Wall Road Journal to succeed in Naussany Investments by cellphone and electronic mail had been unsuccessful, with one cellphone quantity related to the corporate out of service. A Jacksonville, Florida, tackle related to the group is for a UPS retailer.
Following Lisa Marie Presley’s demise final yr, Keough, who starred in Daisy Jones and the Six, engaged in a authorized battle together with her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, to grow to be sole trustee of the Promenade Belief, established by her mom in 1993. Regardless of rising the belief’s property to greater than $100 million by 2005, Lisa Marie Presley additionally incurred greater than $3 million in debt over time, in keeping with a 2022 revenue and expense declaration, which compelled her to promote 85 p.c of Elvis Presley Enterprises. It’s nonetheless unclear to whom that debt is owed, nonetheless.
By means of all her monetary woes, Lisa Marie Presley managed to maintain Graceland within the household. The Colonial revival was Elvis’ residence from 1957 till his demise in 1977. The property was appraised at $5.6 million in 2021, however generates way more revenue as a vacationer attraction, and the complicated additionally options an exhibition heart and a 450-room resort. The mansion introduced in a minimum of $80 million in 2022, a lot of which helps Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered proper to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the largest information on the planet of high-end actual property delivered each Friday. Click here to subscribe.
