Rake v. Wade, 508 U.S. 464, 9 (1993)

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  Next

472

RAKE v. WADE

Opinion of the Court

U. S. 112, 115 (1879)). Construing §§ 506(b) and 1322(b)(5) together, and giving effect to both, we conclude that § 1322(b)(5) authorizes a debtor to cure a default on a home mortgage by making payments on arrearages under a Chapter 13 plan, and that where the mortgagee's claim is over-secured, § 506(b) entitles the mortgagee to preconfirmation interest on such arrearages.

B

Petitioners make virtually the same argument with respect to postconfirmation interest under § 1325(a)(5). Petitioners concede that under § 1325(a)(5)(B)(ii) secured creditors are entitled to the "present value of [their] claims, which implies the payment of interest." Reply Brief for Petitioners 5.8 Petitioners contend, however, that § 1325(a)(5)(B)(ii) "applies only to secured claims which have been modified in the Chapter 13 plan, and which, by reason of Section 1322(b)(2), may not include home mortgages." Ibid. Since nothing in the Code states that § 1325(a)(5) applies only to "modified" claims, petitioners turn to those Court of Appeals decisions that have held that "the legislative history indicates that § 1322(b) was intended to create a special exception to § 1325(a)(5)(B)." In re Terry, 780 F. 2d 894, 896-897 (CA11 1985). Accord, In re Laguna, supra, at 544-545; Hall, 918 F. 2d, at 1154-1155; Appeal of Capps, 836 F. 2d 773, 776 (CA3 1987).

8 When a claim is paid off pursuant to a stream of future payments, a creditor receives the "present value" of its claim only if the total amount of the deferred payments includes the amount of the underlying claim plus an appropriate amount of interest to compensate the creditor for the decreased value of the claim caused by the delayed payments. This generally involves a determination of an appropriate discount rate and a discounting of the stream of deferred payments back to the present dollar value of the claim at confirmation. See 5 Collier ¶ 1325.06[4][b][iii][B]. Because the issue is not presented in this case, we express no view on the appropriate rate of interest that debtors must pay on arrearages cured pursuant to § 1322(b)(5).

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007