Bank of New York Mellon v. Lang (In Re Lang)

Case: 14-11373 Date Filed: 10/16/2014 Page: 1 of 3 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ___________________________ No. 14-11373 Non-Argument Calendar ___________________________ D. C. Docket Nos. 3:14-cv-00200-BJD; 3:13-bkc-00346-PMG In re: PHALLY LANG, Debtor. _____________________________ THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, f.k.a. Bank of New York, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus PHALLY LANG, Defendant-Appellee. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida _______________________________ (October 16, 2014) Case: 14-11373 Date Filed: 10/16/2014 Page: 2 of 3 Before TJOFLAT, JORDAN, and EDMONDSON, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: Bank of America, N.A., as servicer for The Bank of New York Mellon, appeals the district court’s summary affirmance of the bankruptcy court’s order voiding a wholly unsecured second priority lien on residential property owned by a Chapter 7 debtor. The bankruptcy court granted Debtor’s request to “strip off” the unsecured junior lien, based on this Court’s binding precedent in McNeal v. GMAC Mortg., LLC (In re McNeal), 735 F.3d 1263 (11th Cir. 2012) (citing Folendore v. United States Small Bus. Admin. (In re Folendore), 862 F.2d 1537 (11th Cir. 1989)). In McNeal, this Court concluded that a Chapter 7 debtor is allowed to “strip off” a second priority lien on his home, pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 506(a) and (d), when the first priority lien exceeds the value of the property. Bank of America acknowledges that this panel is bound by the Court’s decisions in McNeal and Folendore, but reserves the right to seek reconsideration of the issue by the en banc Court. Cf. United States v. Smith, 122 F.3d 1355, 1359 (11th Cir. 1997) (“Under the prior panel precedent rule, we are bound by earlier 2 Case: 14-11373 Date Filed: 10/16/2014 Page: 3 of 3 panel holdings . . . unless and until they are overruled en banc or by the Supreme Court.”). AFFIRMED. 3