Cite as: 508 U. S. 324 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
value shall be determined . . . in conjunction with any hearing . . . on a plan affecting such creditor's interest." But even if we accept petitioners' valuation, the bank is still the "holder" of a "secured claim," because petitioners' home retains $23,500 of value as collateral. The portion of the bank's claim that exceeds $23,500 is an "unsecured claim componen[t]" under § 506(a), United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc., 489 U. S. 235, 239, n. 3 (1989) (internal quotation marks omitted); however, that determination does not necessarily mean that the "rights" the bank enjoys as a mortgagee, which are protected by § 1322(b)(2), are limited by the valuation of its secured claim.
The term "rights" is nowhere defined in the Bankruptcy Code. In the absence of a controlling federal rule, we generally assume that Congress has "left the determination of property rights in the assets of a bankrupt's estate to state law," since such "[p]roperty interests are created and defined by state law." Butner v. United States, 440 U. S. 48, 54-55 (1979). See also Barnhill v. Johnson, 503 U. S. 393, 398 (1992). Moreover, we have specifically recognized that "[t]he justifications for application of state law are not limited to ownership interests," but "apply with equal force to security interests, including the interest of a mortgagee." Butner, supra, at 55. The bank's "rights," therefore, are reflected in the relevant mortgage instruments, which are enforceable under Texas law. They include the right to repayment of the principal in monthly installments over a fixed term at specified adjustable rates of interest, the right to retain the lien until the debt is paid off, the right to accelerate the loan upon default and to proceed against petitioners' residence by foreclosure and public sale, and the right to bring an action to recover any deficiency remaining after foreclosure. See Record 135-140 (deed of trust); id., at 147- 151 (promissory note); Tex. Prop. Code Ann. §§ 51.002-51.005 (Supp. 1993). These are the rights that were "bargained for by the mortgagor and the mortgagee," Dewsnup v. Timm,
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