Do you need more evidence that today’s Notaries Public are more important than ever? Here it is: A legal drama is unfolding in Tennessee, in which the granddaughter and heir of Elvis and Priscilla Presley is suing to halt the foreclosure sale of the famed “Graceland” estate.
And a highly questionable notarization has become key evidence as the case continues to unfold.
The Graceland court battle
According to published reports, a Tennessee judge blocked the Graceland foreclosure sale on May 22 after actress Danielle Riley Keough, the daughter of Lisa Marie Presley, alleged in a lawsuit that a company operating as Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC forged several loan and estate documents, and that the company does not actually exist.
After adjourning the sale, Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins said in open court: “The Notary has sworn that the Notary did not notarize the signature of Lisa Marie Presley on the deed of trust, which brings in the question as to the authenticity of the signature and indeed the deed of trust as being a fraud.”
Priscilla Presley, now 78, has even taken to her social media accounts in protest, claiming: “It’s a scam!”
According to the lawsuit, the company “presented documents purporting to show that Lisa Marie Presley borrowed $3.8 million from Naussany Investments and gave a deed of trust encumbering Graceland as security.”
Keough and Priscilla Presley both claim that Lisa Marie Presley never entered such a deal stating “these documents are fraudulent” and that Naussany Investments “is not a real entity” and that it was “created for the purpose of defrauding the Promenade Trust, the heirs of Lisa Marie Presley, or any purchaser of Graceland at a non-judicial sale.”
Why the notarization is suspicious
Further adding to the intrigue, it is claimed that the Presley loan documents were notarized by Florida Notary Kimberly Philbrick in May of 2018. But there are two signs the notarization was potentially fraudulent. First, the certificate language reads that the documents were acknowledged before a Notary “by means of ( ) physical presence or ( ) online notarization.” Remote Online Notarization was not authorized in Florida until 2020, making it unlikely the documents were notarized in 2018.
Second, Philbrick stated in an affidavit that she did not perform the notarizations. “I have never met Lisa Marie Presley, nor have I ever notarized a document signed by Lisa Marie Presley,” she wrote in the affidavit. “I do not know why my signature appears on this document.”
Additionally, Keough’s legal team told the court that the promissory note and the deed of trust were allegedly forged and never recorded with the office of the Shelby County Register of Deeds after the alleged notarization.
While the intricate details of the alleged fraud have yet to be revealed, the suspected fraudulent notarization has become a central evidentiary issue in blocking the sale. The National Notary Bulletin will provide updates as the case develops. Graceland is a 14-acre mansion and property that was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006.
Phillip Browne is Vice President of Communications at the National Notary Association.