A planned auction off Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland estate was suspended on Wednesday after a Tennessee judge blocked the sale and indicated that the entire process was potentially fraudulent. With the dispute over the beloved Memphis tourist attraction now on the FBI’s radar, the company behind the foreclosure has withdrawn its claim, allowing the family of the late King of Rock ‘n Roll to maintain control of the property.
The dispute over the ownership of the Graceland property, which Elvis owned until his death in 1977, arose when Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC claimed that the mansion and the surrounding 14 acres were owed as a loan repayment. In court filings obtained by CNN, Naussany Investments stated that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ only daughter, put up the property as collateral against a $3.8 million loan in 2018. After her death in January 2023, that loan was reportedly never repaid.
The Presley estate, led by actress Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter and one of Elvis’ three living grandchildren, responded with a lawsuit claiming that the loan documents were fraudulent, the property had never been listed as collateral, and the notary named on the documents had never met her mother.
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On Wednesday morning, Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the Graceland auction, upholding an existing restraining order obtained by Keough.
“Graceland is a part of this community, well-loved by this community and indeed around the world,” the judge said.
Jenkins also indicated that, were the proceedings to continue, the Presley estate would likely win the lawsuit against the company.
Following the injunction, a representative for Naussany Investments said that the foreclosure claim would be “withdrawn with prejudice.” The decision not to pursue the auction was made after company lawyers determined that it would require legal filings in multiple states, as the alleged lone was finalized in Florida.
Based on the fraud allegations involved in the lawsuit, the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have begun looking into the matter, meaning that possible criminal charges could follow.
Graceland opened as a museum and tourist attraction dedicated to Elvis’ life and legacy in 1982 and has drawn hundreds of thousands of visitors every year since then. After the cancelation of the auction, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, Elvis Presley Enterprises proudly announced that “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 the best in class experience when visiting his iconic home.”
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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