Katy Perry wins convent ruling
In a legal victory for pop star Katy Perry, a Los Angeles judge on Wednesday quashed an effort by nuns to sell a Los Feliz convent to a competing buyer, removing a major obstacle in the singer’s attempts to purchase the property.
The decision marks the latest twist in a fierce real estate fight involving a group of nuns, Perry, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and a wellknown restaurateur over the fate of the coveted hilltop estate.
The judge’s ruling puts the pop star one step closer to buying the contentious convent, said Perry’s attor-
ney, Eric Rowen.
“We won the real property issues,” Rowen said in a statement.
A lawyer for the archdiocese — which hopes to sell the property to Perry — says he’s still reviewing the ruling closely, but believes the judge’s decision cleared away the last large legal hurdle, paving the way for Perry to buy the convent.
“We’re obviously pleased,” attorney J. Michael Hennigan said. “We think this is pretty much a win.”
But John Scholnick, an attorney representing two nuns on the other side of the battle, said the fight is far from over, adding that he’s considering an appeal on behalf of his clients, who want to sell the property to restaurateur Dana Hollister.
“As far as I’m concerned,” Scholnick said, “it’s still game on.”
In a ruling filed Wednesday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick said she had voided the deed to sell the property to Hollister.
The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary contend that they have the right to sell the convent, which is among the assets of the order’s nonprofit institute.
The deal to sell the property to Hollister for $15.5 million is legal, the nuns say, adding that they’re fiercely against the other option. In a declaration filed in court documents, Catherine Rose Holzman — one of the nuns — wrote that she would “strongly object” to a sale of the convent to the pop star, who rose to fame with her hit song “I Kissed a Girl.”
“Once we learned more about Katy Perry and her public image,” the nun wrote, “we objected to selling to her (for what should be obvious reasons coming from Catholic nuns).”
Selling to Perry, Holzman wrote, would make her feel as if she was “being forced to violate [her] canonical vows to the Catholic Church.”
The L.A. Archdiocese, however, contends that the church has jurisdiction and that the nuns’ sale was unauthorized. Bowick agreed in her ruling that the nuns didn’t have the authority to make the sale.
The archdiocese has argued that its agreement to sell the convent to Perry for $14.5 million in cash is legally binding.
In a statement Wednesday, the archdiocese said that its main concern throughout the legal saga has been the welfare of the nuns. The archdiocese said it was “forced” to take legal action to protect the sisters from Hollister and accused the restaurateur of trying to take advantage of the nuns.
The archdiocese has questioned how Hollister initially obtained the deed after paying a $44,000 deposit with a note for the rest.
Hollister’s attorney, Randy Snyder, did not return a call or email seeking comment. Hollister has previously denied wrongdoing, and said she had lined up financing to pay the full $15.5 million.
‘As far as I’m concerned, it’s still game on.’ — John Scholnick, an attorney for the nuns, who says he’s considering an appeal