Stealing houses is on the rise in the United States.
Here’s how it works: Identity thieves forge property documents, phony deeds or liens, then borrow against the property or sell to unsuspecting buyers (see article here).
Targeted houses typically are vacant or unoccupied. Elvis Presley’s “Graceland” estate in Memphis is in that category; it’s a museum.
Is someone trying to steal it? Presley’s granddaughter says yes, and is going to court to stop a foreclosure sale that was scheduled for May 23, 2024 (read story here), but is now delayed by a restraining order.
An outfit called Naussany Investments & Private Lending, LLC (NIPL), run by one Kurt Naussany, claims Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie, who died last year, borrowed $3.8 million using Graceland as collateral and never repaid the loan. Riley Keough, Presley’s daughter, says NIPL isn’t a real entity, there was no loan, and a 2018 deed of trust purportedly signed by Lisa Marie is a forgery with a fake notarization.
Keough appears to have legs to stand on. The Shelby County Register of Deeds told a local TV station that its office doesn’t have documents on file required for a foreclosure (see story here). Even if the transaction was genuine, this defect would prevent a foreclosure sale.
There’s more: Conveniently, the purported loan documents didn’t surface until several months after Lisa Marie’s death. And Keough has a sworn affidavit from the Florida notary who purportedly notarized them stating she never met Lisa Marie Presley and didn’t notarize the documents.
Kurt Naussany isn’t talking to the press. He can’t even be located. He’s talking through attorneys, and eventually a Tennessee judge will sort it out. Meanwhile, if Elvis Presley’s former home comes on the market, buyer beware. Buying the Brooklyn Bridge doesn’t mean you own it.
Update (5/23/24): Just a day after the restraining order halted the foreclosure sale, NIPL withdrew its claims, and issued a statement in poor English that leaves little doubt this was a scam (read story here). The real target was the buyer, because if the “foreclosure” sale had gone through, the scammer would have disappeared overseas with the buyer’s millions of dollars, and the buyer would have bought nothing and been left holding a worthless deed.
Update (6/14/24): The scammer’s trail led to a Missouri trailer park and a woman with a prison record who has spent a lifetime ripping off people (read story here).
Photo: Nice digs but people constantly traipsing through your living spaces would be a pain.
