Background: FILE – This August 2010 file photo, shows Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File). Inset: FILE In this undated file photo singer and actor Elvis Presley is shown (AP Photo, file).
“Suspicious Minds.” “Don’t Be Cruel.” “You’re the Devil in Disguise.”
These are not just a few of the biggest hits of Elvis Presley, but they could be used to describe recent alleged efforts to infiltrate and fraudulently foreclose on Graceland, the legendary former home of Elvis and popular tourist attraction which still brings in over half a million visitors per year from around the world.
In May, Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit to halt a foreclosure sale of Graceland by a Memphis judge, after an alleged fraudulent scheme to sell Graceland by a company under the name Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC was underway. In September 2023, Naussany filed court documents claiming that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s only child who died in January of that year, borrowed $3.8 million and used Graceland as security for a loan that Naussany wanted to foreclose upon. Naussany claimed that after Lisa Marie’s death, as she was not able to pay back the alleged loan, the entity had the right to foreclose on the home as collateral.
On May 15, 2024, Keough filed a complaint in state court in Tennessee against Naussany claiming that it used “fraudulent documents,” that Naussany was not an actual real entity, and that it was created solely for the purpose of carrying out this scheme to attempt to foreclose on the Graceland estate. Keough, who inherited the home after the death of her mother, also claimed the documents allegedly used by Naussany were forged and that her mother had never borrowed the $3.8 million sum or put Graceland up as security for the loan.
In an even deeper twist, the alleged forged documents included a purported notarization by Florida resident Kimberly Philbrick stating the papers were signed by Lisa Marie Presley in Philbrick’s presence. In actuality, Philbrick stated the documents were fake and she had never even met Lisa Marie Presley, let alone notarized documents in her presence.
On May 22, 2024, the presiding judge held a hearing — in which no representative from Naussany attended — that lasted less than 10 minutes. The judge blocked the sale after noting the dubiousness of the alleged documents, stating: “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.”
While the Presley family likely felt relief once the sale was stopped, questions still lingered. Who was behind this worrisome scheme? How could something like this happen to any homeowner, let alone the heir to one of the most famous homes in America, which has operated as a museum attracting thousands of visitors for over 40 years and is considered a historic landmark? And most of all, what cracks in the legal and court system allowed an allegedly fraudulent sale of this legendary home to come so dangerously close to fruition?
Now, some answers seem to have surfaced. A Missouri woman named Lisa Jeanine Findley was arrested by authorities on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, which carry up to over 20 years in prison collectively. According to prosecutors, Findley allegedly posed as up to three people affiliated with Naussany, forged loan documents and the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley and the notary, and filed a false creditor’s claim and a fake deed of trust at a registrar’s office in Memphis.
While the Presleys can breathe a sigh of relief knowing Graceland will continue to remain safely within their purview, this bizarre scheme has many asking how it even happened in the first place, and more importantly, if this can happen to one of the most famous families in the world, what’s to stop the next average American from being victimized from such a plot?
In today’s day and age, real estate fraud is more prevalent now than ever. According to the FBI’s 2022 Internet Crime Report, 11,727 people in the U.S. were victims of such fraudulent crimes, and in October 2024, 77% of real estate professionals claimed to have seen a rise in impersonations of sellers. Similarly, this year, it was reported that one in 20 recent American homeowners experienced some type of real estate fraud, with the average amount of consumer losses totaling over $70,000.
To top it all off, the way work is conducted in the real estate world — as well as many other industries — has changed in the past few years, making it that much easier for suspected criminals to act out their schemes. Starting with COVID-19, a great deal of aspects of real estate transactions — including even closings — began to be held remotely, and almost immediately at the start of the pandemic, notaries were permitted to notarize documents via Zoom in numerous states, making it that much easier for people to carry out their nefarious motives.
Additionally, advances in technology make obtaining and sending sensitive information much more straightforward, with social media, texting, and the ability to screenshot or record nearly any type of document, data, or file within the snap of a finger. Now, many prosecutors point out that nearly every standard computer “has the technology to create a believable forgery, and you can buy a fake notary stamp online.” Finally, with so much content readily available at everyone’s fingertips with the internet, apparent criminals behind these plans have a lot of resources to look to in terms of how to carry out these crimes, and as a result have become more sophisticated than ever.
While it’s clear the Presleys are far from the first family to recently experience such a scheme, it still came as a shock to many. After all, how can a family that has often been equated to American royalty, with access to bountiful wealth, resources, and the best attorneys money can buy, be susceptible to something like this?
While prosecutors are still unraveling that and moving forward with Findley’s case, there are several tips Americans should keep in mind to prevent real estate fraud and protect their homes, including: monitoring your credit reports for signs of identity theft, purchasing enhanced title insurance, and keeping a close eye out on home bills, as thieves are known to frequently alter the address on bills, buying themselves more time to profit off the property.
Most of all, this close call with Graceland has undoubtedly put many on notice and prompted people to pay more attention to safeguarding their own hard-earned home.
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