Sell Elvis Presley’s famed Graceland house? A Tennessee judge has halted efforts by a firm claiming Elvis Presley’s estate had neglected to properly repay a loan that used his historic former home, Graceland, as security, to put it up for sale.
The actor Riley Keough, the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, filed a lawsuit to stop the historic building’s scheduled foreclosure sale, calling it “fraudulent.” This led to the ruling.
A temporary injunction was obtained by Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins against the intended auction, which was originally set to take place this Thursday.
After her mother Lisa Marie Presley passed away in 2023 and after a court fight with her grandmother Priscilla Presley, Keough was designated the sole owner and trustee of the family estate.
Promenade Trust, the organization in charge of the Graceland museum, said in a public notice for the estate’s foreclosure auction earlier in May that it owed $3.8 million (£2.9 million) for arrears on a loan that it had taken out in 2018.
The court notification states that Lisa Marie reportedly signed a Deed of Trust in 2018 to use Graceland as collateral to get the loan through Naussany Investments and Private Lending, a Missouri-based business.
Elvis Presley resided there until his death in 1977 after paying £102,500 for the property in 1957, the same year he recorded singles including “All Shook Up” and “Blue Christmas.”
Keough filed a complaint on May 15th, claiming that her mother forgeried her signature on the paperwork, that there was never a loan, that Naussany Investments is not a legitimate corporation, and that the transaction was not notarized by a notary public.
The company that manages Graceland and the assets of the Elvis Presley Trust, Elvis Presley Enterprises, implied in a statement to NBC News that the planned sale is a scam.
“These assertions are false, as confirmed by Elvis Presley Enterprises. No foreclosure sale is taking place. To put it plainly, the goal of the countersuit is to halt the fraud, according to a representative.
After the rock star passed away, Lisa Marie acquired the Graceland estate, which became a public museum in 1982. Approximately 500,000 people visit the 13.8-acre site annually as admirers travel great distances to honor one of the greatest singers in American history.
