Left: Riley Keough attends The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” exhibition on Monday, May 6, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP). Right: Visitors get ready to tour Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Beth J. Harpaz, File)
Elvis Presley’s Memphis home and final resting place will not be auctioned off to the highest bidder after a state chancellor said that important documents may not have borne the authentic signature of the iconic singer’s late daughter Lisa Marie Presley.
Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins held a hearing that lasted about eight minutes on Wednesday in which he noted that, “The notary has sworn that the notary did not notarize the signature of Lisa Marie Presley on the deed of trust, which brings into question the authenticity of the signature.”
Graceland, Elvis’s 13-acre Memphis residence turned tourist attraction, was noticed for a foreclosure sale on the Shelby County Courthouse steps on May 23. However, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s granddaughter, Danielle Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit to stop the sale on May 15. The lawsuit named Missouri company Naussany Investments and Private Lending and Kurt Naussany as defendants and said that the underlying loan documents showing a $3.8 million debt using Graceland as security had been “fraudulent.”
Keough alleged that Naussany “is not a real entity” and was formed simply to defraud the trust that owns Graceland. She also said that her mother Lisa Marie never signed any loan documents putting up the family home as collateral. Attached to the complaint was the affidavit of Kimberly Philbrick, the notary public listed on the loan documents attesting to Lisa Marie Presley’s signature. Philbrick attested that she never met Lisa Marie Presley and did not notarize her signature.
ABC News reported that the court official ordered that the foreclosure sale be halted in part because, “real estate is considered unique under Tennessee law,” and reasoned that accordingly, “the loss of the real estate would be considered irreparable harm.”
Indeed, parcels of real estate are generally considered unique entities under the law, and disputes over their sale often give rise to case-specific remedies such as injunctions or specific performance.
The case will next move on toward trial during which the defendants will have the opportunity to offer a full defense against Keough’s fraud claims.
Elvis Presley Enterprises released a statement after Wednesday’s hearing reinforcing that there was “no validity” to the foreclosure claims,
“There will be no foreclosure,” the organization promised. “Graceland will continue to operate as it has for the past 42 years, ensuring that Elvis fans from around the world can continue to have a best in class experience when visiting his iconic home.”
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