A Tennessee court has put a stop to the planned auction of Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland mansion, which was set to take place on Thursday, after the late singer's granddaughter, Riley Keough, claimed that documents pertaining to the case were fraudulent. Chancellor JoeDae L. Jenkins of the Shelby County Tennessee Chancery Court ruled that the sale would not proceed, stating that there must be time for adequate discovery and for the defense to address the allegations made about the potential sale.
The legal dispute centers around a company called Naussany Investments and Private Lending, which claims that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis's only child, took out a $3.8 million loan but never paid it back, having put the estate up as collateral via a signed Deed of Trust in 2018. The company initiated plans for Elvis' former home in Memphis, as well as its surrounding acreage on Elvis Presley Boulevard, to be sold to the highest bidder at a foreclosure sale.
However, Keough, who is the sole heir to the property following her mother's death in January 2023, asked the court for an injunction to prevent the sale, alleging that the lawsuit is a scam, with forged documents and a fake shell company making the claim. In a 60-page lawsuit against Naussany Investments, Keough stated that her mother never borrowed any money from the company and that Presley's signatures on the deed are forgeries.
Attorney Jeffrey Germany, representing Keough, filed a complaint with the court regarding the authenticity of the purported deed of trust. Germany submitted an affidavit from the purported notary, who denied ever notarizing Lisa Marie's signature on the document in question. Judge Jenkins said that this brings into question the authenticity of the signature and the deed of trust being fraudulent.
In his ruling, Judge Jenkins granted the injunction, stating that Graceland is considered unique under Tennessee law and that the loss of the property would be considered "irreparable harm." He also noted that Naussany would not be harmed by delaying the trial on the matter until there can be adequate discovery and the opportunity for the defense to respond to claims made by the plaintiff.
Priscilla Presley, Lisa Marie's mother and Elvis' ex-wife, blasted the legal notice on social media earlier this week, calling it a "scam." Elvis Presley bought the mansion in 1957 for $102,500 and lived there until his death in 1977. Lisa Marie inherited Graceland after her father's death, and it was opened to the public as a museum in 1982, featuring costumes, artifacts, and personal mementos from Elvis and his family.
The property, which now includes a resort hotel and a chapel, was designated as a National Historic landmark in March 2006 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. About 600,000 tourists visit Graceland each year, generating $150 million in overall economic impact to the City of Memphis.
The legal battle over Graceland comes on the heels of a dispute between Keough and her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, over the rights to Lisa Marie's estate following her death. The two ultimately settled, with Keough becoming Graceland's sole owner.
Riley Keough, a well-known actor who has appeared in films such as "Mad Max Fury Road" and Hulu's "Under the Bridge," recently revealed that she has a daughter, Tupelo Storm Smith-Petersen, who was born via surrogate in August 2022. The name is a tribute to her late brother, Benjamin Storm Keough, who died in 2020 at the age of 27, and to Elvis, who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935.
