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2 

BANK OF AMERICA, N. A. v. CAULKETT 

Opinion of the Court 

same.  The  debtors,  respondents  David  Caulkett  and 
Edelmiro  Toledo-Cardona,  each  have  two  mortgage  liens 
on  their  respective  houses.    Petitioner  Bank  of  America 
(Bank)  holds  the  junior  mortgage  lien—i.e.,  the  mortgage
lien  subordinate  to  the  other  mortgage  lien—on  each
home.  The amount owed on each debtor’s senior mortgage
lien  is  greater  than  each  home’s  current  market  value. 
The  Bank’s  junior  mortgage  liens  are  thus  wholly  under-
water:  because  each  home  is  worth  less  than  the  amount 
the  debtor  owes  on  the  senior  mortgage,  the  Bank  would 
receive nothing if the properties were sold today.

In  2013,  the  debtors  each  filed  for  Chapter  7  bank-
ruptcy.    In  their  respective  bankruptcy  proceedings,  they
moved  to  “strip  off ”—or  void—the  junior  mortgage  liens 
under  §506(d)  of  the  Bankruptcy  Code.    In  each  case,  the 
Bankruptcy  Court  granted  the  motion,  and  both  the  Dis-
trict  Court  and  the  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Eleventh
Circuit  affirmed.    In re  Caulkett,  566  Fed.  Appx.  879 
(2014) (per curiam); In re Toledo-Cardona, 556 Fed. Appx.
911  (2014)  (per  curiam).  The  Eleventh  Circuit  explained
that  it  was  bound  by  Circuit  precedent  holding  that 
§506(d)  allows  debtors  to  void  a  wholly  underwater  mort-
gage lien.

We  granted  certiorari,  574  U. S.  ___  (2014),  and  now 

reverse the judgments of the Eleventh Circuit. 

II 
Section  506(d)  provides,  “To  the  extent  that  a  lien  se-
cures  a  claim  against  the  debtor  that  is  not  an  allowed 
secured  claim,  such  lien  is  void.” 
(Emphasis  added.)
Accordingly,  §506(d)  permits  the  debtors  here  to  strip  off 
the  Bank’s  junior  mortgages  only  if  the  Bank’s  “claim”—
generally,  its  right  to  repayment  from  the  debtors,
§101(5)—is  “not  an  allowed  secured  claim.”    Subject  to 
some exceptions not relevant here, a claim filed by a credi-
tor is deemed “allowed” under §502 if no interested party