“Hear her roar!”
Pop star Katy Perry has won a round in her legal battle to obtain the right to legally purchase a former nun’s convent in Los Feliz, California.
A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday that she will be blocking an effort by nuns to sell the convent to competing buyer, restaurant-owner Dana Hollister.
Earlier last year, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to sell the property to Perry for the amount of $14.5 million.
But two of the last five remaining living sisters of the Immaculate Heart, who used to reside in the convent, have insisted that only they have the right to sell the convent. The other three are said to have signed declarations declaring their support for the Archdiocese .
The two nuns, Sister Rita and Sister Catherine Rose, have chosen to sell the property to Hollister for $15.5 million, before the deal with Perry could close.
This initiated a legal battle between the two camps and it looks like Perry is edging closer to victory.
“We won the real property issues,” said Eric Rowen, Perry’s Legal Counsel.
But Jon Scholnick who represents Sister Rita and Sister Catherine Rose had insisted that the fight is far from over and he has stated that he intends on filing an appeal on behalf of his two clients.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said “it’s still game on.”
But for now Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick, who presided over the briefing last Wednesday has said that she has “extinguished” the deed to sell the convent to Hollister this according to J. Michael Hennigan who represents the Archdiocese.
“We’re obviously pleased,” he said in reference to the ruling.
This is the second time the nuns have lost in the legal tussle. On July last year L.A. County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled in favor of Perry, stating that the sale to Hollister was “clearly invalid” and a “bad deal”.
