The company being investigated for trying to sell Graceland hasn’t filed a single required document with the local deeds office to show it has any rights to Elvis Presley’s Memphis estate — but it was still able to proceed with its foreclosure sale plan mortgage because of a system that leaves those battles for the courts to decide, according to county officials and a foreclosure attorney.
Naussany Investments & Private Lending, a lender with no Internet presence, says it gave Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, who died last year, a $3.8 million loan with a deed of trust over the compound given as collateral.
But there are no records of such a transaction, according to Willie Brooks of the Shelby County Register of Deeds and Vincent Clark, administrator of the Shelby County Register of Deeds office.
“They didn’t file anything with our office, not even for anything other than Graceland. So we’ve never heard of this company before,” Clark said.
For one thing, Naussany Investments should have requested a quitclaim form, the standard legal document used to transfer real estate ownership, but that didn’t happen, Brooks said. The company also should have filed a trustees’ substitute deed, the first step in foreclosure on a property, that establishes who the company designated to manage the foreclosure and provides the company with an identification number, but this did not happen.
Typically, a lien is also placed on a property in loan cases, but this has not been done either. And although presenting a mortgage could legally and publicly document the transaction, bolstering the company’s claim that it occurred, the company did not do so.
“It’s kind of weird,” Clark said. “Typically, title companies and mortgage companies are very picky about things being publicly recorded and on file in our office.”
On Thursday, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced that he would investigate Nausanny Investments’ attempt to foreclose on Graceland and determine “the full extent of any misconduct that may have occurred.”
“Graceland is one of the state of Tennessee’s most iconic landmarks, and the Presley family has generously shared it with the world since Elvis’ passing,” Skrmetti said in a statement. There is no home in Tennessee more beloved than Graceland.”
Despite failing to present the required documents to the notary’s office, the company was allowed to proceed with its Graceland foreclosure plan, posting notices from his plan earlier this month due to a system designed to get contested cases stopped in court.
“They essentially leave it up to civil authorities in a court of law to challenge something like what happened to Graceland,” Clark said.
Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, actor Riley Keough, appealed to the courts. Her lawyer on Wednesday asked a judge to stop Naussany Investments from selling Graceland, which has been under family control since Presley bought it in 1957.
Keough filed suit last week in Shelby County Chancery Court in Tennessee, alleging that Naussany Investments had submitted fraudulent documents with forged signatures showing that Lisa Marie Presley had offered Graceland to secure the loan. The foreclosure sale was scheduled for Thursday. Keough said in the court filing that Presley never borrowed money from Naussany Investments or gave him a trust deed.
On Wednesday, Chancery Court Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins, who is presiding over the court case, delayed the sale and told Keough’s attorney, Jeff Germany, that he will likely be able to block it for good.
“It appears that you, Mr. Germany, your client will succeed on the merits,” Jenkins said, “provided you prove the fraud that has been alleged.”
A representative from Naussany Investments was not in court, adding to the mystery surrounding the self-styled lender.
NBC News searched several public records databases for anyone in the U.S. with the surname Naussany and any company with the name Naussany or the initials NIPL and found nothing. NBC News was also unable to find any social media profiles belonging to the company or its representatives.
On Tuesday evening, the Shelby County Circuit Court received a faxed response from Gregory E. Naussany to Keough’s complaint, which described him as a creditor of the company. The lawsuit denied Keough’s accusation and asked that the company be allowed to proceed with the sale.
“I respectfully deny the allegations made by Danielle Riley Keough,” Naussany wrote to the court, using the actor’s real name. “Naussany Investments & Private Lending is prepared to provide evidence and arguments to demonstrate that the requested relief is not warranted in this case.”
The lawsuit included a phone number and email address for Gregory E. Naussany. No one answered the phone or responded to messages sent to that number. But a request for comment sent to the email address on Wednesday generated a response indicating that the company would drop the case after “consultation with lawyers”.
NBC News responded, asking for more information about him and the company and an explanation of why there is no publicly available information about them. NBC News also asked to speak with him by phone. A response signed “Gregory E Naussany” declined, saying more information would come in a future court document. “It is evident that Keough and the LMP family were not aware of LMP’s misuse of money and finances,” the response read, using Lisa Marie Presley’s initials.
NBC News sought additional comment Thursday but did not immediately receive a response.
There were no new records on Thursday. Tracy Askew, operations manager for the Chancery Court Clerk’s Office, said it’s unclear whether Naussany has dropped the case. “I don’t see any new hearing date set for this case at this time,” Askew said.
When asked how the case moved forward despite the lack of required records, Brooks, the registrar of deeds, said it is outside his office’s jurisdiction. “We are not aligned with these transactions, so we cannot validate anything that occurred with that property. Nor can we validate that a loan was made,” he said.
In Shelby County, Brooks said, cases of quit claim fraud — when someone claims to own property they don’t own — are prevalent, and most victims are elderly. In some cases, the victims have already passed away.
Brooks said most cases are handled in civil courts. He said there have been around 60 such fraud cases in 2023 and around 400 cases since around 2018.
Darryl Castle, a Memphis attorney who represents people facing foreclosure, said fraudulent foreclosures are rarely successful because the court stops them.
When someone is the subject of a proposed foreclosure, they must be notified, and this gives the person the opportunity to contest the foreclosure in court, Castle said. If a foreclosure is contested, the court requires the person filing the foreclosure to prove they are entitled to the debt.
This means having the proper documents filed with the court. In the Graceland case, in which there appear to be no adequate documents, the attempt was halted in court, Castle said.
“My opinion is that the system is working,” Castle said. “If the system didn’t work, you wouldn’t have heard about any of this.”
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