A judge has ordered a temporary halt to the sale of Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland estate following a Riley Keough lawsuit

US News

by Ronnie Reyes

These guys stepped on the wrong blue suede shoes.

A Memphis judge halted the planned foreclosure sale of Elvis Presley's iconic Graceland home during a brief hearing Wednesday morning.

Chancellor Joe Day Jenkins ruled that the historic Tennessee property should remain in the hands of the Presley family after suspicious minds suspected questionable documents handed over to an investment firm appeared to be forgeries.

In a bold move, a company called Naussany Investments and Private Lending LLC has gotten the local community “All Shook Up” by claiming the right to auction off Graceland — which has been voted the most popular museum in America in 2023.

They even scheduled a public auction for Thursday to sell the property to the “highest and best bidder for cash,” according to the foreclosure notice.

The company's property claim states that it loaned $3.8 million to Lisa Marie Presley – Elvis' only daughter – and that it offered Graceland as collateral before her death in January last year.

A lawsuit filed Monday by Lisa Marie's eldest daughter and heir, Riley Keough, said the documents were forged, that her mother's signature on them was forged, and that the company itself was a “sham entity” created to defraud the estate, which attracts 500,000 visitors a year.

The papers described how Lisa Marie appeared to have signed a deed of trust provided by the company, which allegedly signed Graceland, in the presence of a woman named Kimberly Philbrick, who then authenticated it as genuine.

However, Philbrick provided a document to the Q team that stated: “I have never met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever authenticated a signed document.” [by her]”.

Anxious to avoid a potential major rock 'n' roll scam and Elvis' home and final resting place falling into the wrong hands, Jenkins said Thursday's auction should be postponed until clear evidence of who owns it is provided.

“The property is considered unique under Tennessee law, and since it is one-of-a-kind, the loss of the property is considered irreparable damage [to the Presley family]”, Jenkins ruled.

Naussany Investments — which lists its address as PO Boxes in Florida and Missouri — will have to prove its claims in court.

However, one of the men believed to be behind the company, Gregory Nosani, appeared to back down later on Wednesday.

The Memphis Commercial Appeal obtained an email from Naussany, which read: “Due to the Deed of Trust not being registered and the loan being obtained in a different state, a legal action must be filed in multiple states and NAUSSANY Investments & Private Lending will not get to proceed.” [sic].

“There was no harm done to Mrs. Q to her mothers [Lisa Marie Presley’s] Bad habits and poor money management. The Company will withdraw all claims with prejudice.

The Legal Eagles said they felt it was likely the company was trying to pull a fast one and steal Graceland — which generates more than $10 million a year from tourists, according to its website — out from under the noses of its rightful owners.

Cindy Ettingoff, an attorney not connected to the case, said it was “fairly easy to record the deed” if the forged signature was not detected, and then pass it on to someone else.

I told Memphis WREG-TV: “I can say that I will take your house, your title, and claim it as your signature [the deed] Transfer the title to me. Once I have the title, I don't want to get caught…so I'll sell it to someone else, get the money, and go to the next place.

Graceland has been a Memphis fixture since Elvis purchased the property in 1957 for $102,500, the same year he released the songs “Blue Christmas” and “All Shook Up.”

The 14-acre property has been preserved as it was when Elvis died there in 1977.