For Now, Nuns Have Foiled Katy Perry in a Complicated Dispute Over a Los Angeles Convent

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Earlier today, a Los Angeles judge passed a ruling in a complicated real estate dispute involving Katy Perry, a group of elderly nuns, and the ownership of a convent in the Los Feliz neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

This summer, it was reported that Katy Perry wished to purchase the nuns’ former Los Feliz convent from the Los Angeles Archdiocese, headed up by Archbishop Jose Gomez. However, nuns who’d once lived in the now-vacant convent had already sold it to real estate developer Dana Hollister, who was in the process of renovating the property. Ownership over the property was unclear, as it had been donated to the Church by a benefactor in 1971.

Today’s ruling by Judge James Chalfant stipulates that Hollister would be allowed to pay the nuns a total of $25,000 (£16,200) in rent and maintenance fees, which seems to indicate that for now, the nuns who’d lived in the convent hold ownership over it rather than the Church.

In July, Chalfant ruled that the nuns had improperly sold the property to Hollister, but offering the stipulation that it could take years to resolve the issue of who actually has the right to sell the convent. He told the archdiocese’s lawyers, “You’re not selling to Katy Perry anytime soon.”

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