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43 Eleventh Circuits to hold that a lien secured only by the debtor's principal residence that matures before the final payment under the plan, no matter the lien position, may be crammed down and bifurcated into secured and unsecured claims. In Hulbert v. Black, decided May 24, 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals considered whether only the monthly payment amount could be modified, or whether the debt could be crammed down. When the debtor filed Chapter 13 in April 2016, the residential mortgage loan had already matured with a total balance due of about $181,000; however, the debtor valued the property at only $40,000. The plan proposed to bifurcate the lien into secured and unsecured portions. The Fourth Circuit held that Section 1322(c)(2) is best read to authorize modification of claims, not just payments, and concluded that a chapter 13 plan may bifurcate a short-term claim based on an undersecured homestead mortgage into secured and unsecured components and cram down the undersecured component to the value of the property. Hulbert v. Black, 925 F.3d 154 (4th Cir. 2019). e Eleventh Circuit has also concluded that the plain language of Section 1322(c) (2) permits the modification of claims (through bifurcation and cramdown) secured by those short-term home mortgages that mature prior to the completion of a Chapter 13 plan. Am. Gen. Fin., Inc. v. Paschen (In re Paschen), 296 F.3d 1203 (11th Cir. 2002). Similarly, the Sixth Circuit has held that Section 1322(c)(2) creates a narrow exception to the protection from modification in §1322(b)(2) that includes the power to bifurcate undersecured claims that matured or will mature, consistent with Section 1325(a)(5). First Union Mortg. Corp. v. Eubanks (In re Eubanks), 219 B.R. 468 (6th Cir. BAP 1998). us, in the Fourth Circuit, as in the Sixth and Eleventh, a short-term undersecured lien secured only by the debtor's principal residence may be bifurcated into secured and unsecured claims. Effective property valuation, perhaps by expert testimony, then becomes the key to maximizing the creditor's recovery. Mark Baker is the Managing Attorney in Alabama & Tennessee for McMichael Taylor Gray, LLC (MTG). He has spent over 30 years representing lenders and servicers in default services, including foreclosure, bankruptcy, evictions, and debt collection. Prior to joining MTG, Baker was the Owner of Mark A. Baker Law, LLC, ( Tallahassee, Florida) and the Managing Partner at Johnson & Freedman, LLC (Atlanta, Georgia). Mark received his B.A., University of Alabama and received his J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law. Anne Marie Throne is an Associate Attorney at McMichael Taylor Gray, LLC. Her focus is on Tennessee Bankruptcy. Prior to joining MTG, she worked at Podis & Podis as Debtor's Counsel for Bankruptcy cases. rone is a graduate of East Tennessee State University, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in business administration. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Belmont University College of Law.

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