From our private database of 37,200+ case briefs...

Bank of America, N.A. v. Caulkett

United States Supreme Court

575 U.S. 790, 135 S. Ct. 1995, 192 L. Ed. 2d 52 (2015)

Facts

David Caulkett and Edelmiro Toledo-Cardona (debtors) filed separate Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions. Bank of America, N.A. (Bank of America) (creditor) held junior mortgage liens on Caulkett’s and Toledo-Cardona’s respective homes. Other banks held senior mortgage liens on the homes. The amount owed on the senior mortgage liens exceeded the homes’ market value, which meant that the junior mortgage liens were wholly underwater. In other words, Bank of America would receive nothing if the homes were sold, because the sale proceeds would be needed to satisfy the senior mortgage liens. Both Caulkett and Toledo-Cardona tried to “strip off” (i.e., void) Bank of America’s junior mortgage liens under 11 U.S.C. § 506(d), which provides that a lien is void to the extent that the lien secures a claim against the debtor that is “not an allowed secured claim.” The bankruptcy courts in both cases granted the request, and the district court and Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari and consolidated the cases.

Rule of Law

The rule of law is the black letter law upon which the court rested its decision. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Issue

The issue section includes the dispositive legal issue in the case phrased as a question. To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

Holding and Reasoning (Thomas, J.)

The holding and reasoning section includes:

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section;
A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and
The procedural disposition (e.g., reversed and remanded, affirmed, etc.).

To access this section, please start your free trial or log in.

What to do next…

Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.
You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 630,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.
Unlock this case brief Read our student testimonials
Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.
Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.
Learn about our approach Read more about Quimbee

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 37,200 briefs, keyed to 984 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Here's why 630,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
37,200 briefs - keyed to 984 casebooks
Uniform format for every case brief
Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
Top-notch customer support