Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/14pdf/13-1421_p8k0.pdf
Page Number: 3.0

Cite as:  575 U. S. ____ (2015) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington,  D. C.  20543,  of  any  typographical  or  other  formal  errors,  in  order
that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

Nos. 13–1421 and 14–163 
_________________ 

13–1421 

BANK OF AMERICA, N. A., PETITIONER 
v. 
DAVID B. CAULKETT 

14–163 

BANK OF AMERICA, N. A., PETITIONER 
v. 
EDELMIRO TOLEDO-CARDONA 

ON WRITS OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT 

[June 1, 2015]

 JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the opinion of the Court.* 
Section  506(d)  of  the  Bankruptcy  Code  allows  a  debtor
to void a lien on his property “[t]o the extent that [the] lien
secures  a  claim  against  the  debtor  that  is  not  an  allowed 
secured  claim.”  11  U. S. C.  §506(d).    These  consolidated 
cases present the question whether a debtor in a Chapter 
7  bankruptcy  proceeding  may  void  a  junior  mortgage
under  §506(d)  when  the  debt  owed  on  a  senior  mortgage
exceeds the present value of the property.  We hold that a 
debtor may not, and we therefore reverse the judgments of
the Court of Appeals. 

I 

The  facts  in  these  consolidated  cases  are  largely  the 

—————— 

* JUSTICE  KENNEDY,  JUSTICE  BREYER,  and  JUSTICE  SOTOMAYOR  join

this opinion, except as to the footnote.