Katy Perry’s Real Estate Battle Sparks Law Proposal To Protect Retirees From Bad Deals
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Dawn Allcot
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Katy Perry, known for empowering tunes like Roar, is in a raging legal battle with her partner, actor Orlando Bloom, over purchasing a home from 1-800-Flowers founder Carl Westcott.
Perry and Bloom tried to purchase Westcott’s $15 million Montecito, California, mansion in 2020, with Perry’s business manager, Bernie Gudvie, acting as their agent. However, Westcott, now 84, was recovering from six-hour back surgery and was on opiates for pain at the time. According to the Mayo Clinic, Westcott has Huntington’s Disease. A rare disease that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain and can lead to movement, cognitive and psychiatric disorders.
According to court documents reported by NBC News, Westcott’s lawyers claimed he was of “unsound mind” when he agreed to the deal. Shortly after, Westcott tried to back out, but Perry and her agent refused to allow it.
“He was competent when he hired an experienced real estate broker, vetted the brokerage commission rate, arranged showings of the Property, entertained multiple offers, sought alternative houses, and ultimately negotiated a highly lucrative sale,” Gudvi’s lawyers stated in a May 2022 court filing reported by Today.com.
According to reports, Gudvi is countersuing Westcott for roughly $6 million in damages, Today.com reported based on the court statements. He is suing for $3.2 million for “loss of use of the property” and another $2.7 million because Perry had to hold off on selling her property and continue paying the mortgage and, ultimately, renting another home after she sold her residence.
The PERRY Act Seeks to Protect Seniors
As a result of the lawsuits, 37 elected officials across the country are supporting a bill to help protect the property of seniors in the U.S. According to the website KatyPerryAct.com, the PERRY Act, an acronym for Protecting Elder Realty for Retirement Years and a play on the singer’s last name, seeks a 72-hour cool-down period, during which either party involved in certain real estate contracts can rescind the agreement with no penalty. If passed, the PERRY Act would be in effect for the sale or purchase of a personal residence if one party is over the age of 75.
“We hope lawmakers will adopt protections for seniors in real estate transfers so that what happened to my father will never happen to anyone else’s aging parents or grandparents ever again,” Chart Westcott, Carl Westcott’s son, said in a statement published by Today.com.
Will The Perry Act Gain Widespread Support to Become a Law?
The Consensus Statement for the act, as published on the KatyPerryAct.com website, said, “America is about to witness the largest transfer of wealth in history, as parents and grandparents pass their assets to their families and future generations, with home ownership representing the largest source of wealth among families in this country. This transition creates a vast market for potential abuse targeting our vulnerable senior populations.”
The act has received non-partisan support. But, according to Today.com, whether the act will be formally introduced as federal legislation or presented by legislators at the state level is still being determined. Legislators in more than a dozen states have endorsed the bill, according to KatyPerryAct.com.
If it passes, anyone involved in real estate deals with seniors over the age of 75 will have a three-day time frame during which either party can cancel a contract with no ramifications.
This will give both parties time to review the contract terms with lawyers or trusted family members or friends and, presumably, protect seniors from hasty decisions that could cause a loss of generational wealth or even their family home.
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