Leonard Nobelman, et Ux. v. American Savings Bank et al.

Decided June 1, 1993. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 92-641 · 508 U.S. 324 (1993) · Cited 868 times

Holding

Section 1322(b)(2) prohibits a Chapter 13 debtor from relying on 506(a) to reduce an undersecured homestead mortgage to the fair market value of the mortgaged residence.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Butner v. United States · 440 U.S. 48 (1979)
• United States v. Ron Pair Enterprises, Inc. · 489 U.S. 235 (1989)
• United Sav. Assn. of Tex. v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd. · 484 U.S. 365 (1988)
• Dewsnup v. Timm · 502 U.S. 410 (1992)
• Barnhill v. Johnson · 503 U.S. 393 (1992)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Lockhart v. United States · 577 U.S. 347 (2016)
• Barnhart v. Thomas · 540 U.S. 20 (2003)
• United Student Aid Funds, Inc. v. Espinosa · 559 U.S. 260 (2010)
• Jama v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement · 543 U.S. 335 (2005)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).