MEMORANDUM OPINION
THIS MATTER came before the Court upon FirstPlus Financial’s Objection to Confirmation and the Debtor’s Objection to Proof of Claim. FirstPlus Financial (FirstPlus) objected to the confirmation of the Debtor’s Chapter 13 plan on the grounds that the Debtor was attempting to strip off the second mortgage held by FirstPlus on the Debt- or’s principal residence contrary to the anti-modification provision in 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2). The Debtor objected to the secured status of FirstPlus’ Proof of Claim, asserting that the claim was completely unsecured. The Court, having heard the arguments of counsel, examined the pleading and briefs, and being otherwise fully advised, finds that the second mortgage held by First-Plus is fully secured pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2).
FACTS
Debtor filed a voluntary Chaрter 13 petition on March 3, 1997. In that petition, Debtor listed as his principal residence a mobile home and real' property located at 403 Miller Road, Los Lunas, New Mexico. This property is subject to two mortgages. The first mortgage, securing a debt of approximately $99,000, is held by Green Tree Financial. The second mortgage, and the subject of the matter at bar, is held by FirstPlus and secures a debt of approximately $19,000. The parties have stipulated that the value of the residence is $99,000.
On March 14,1997, Debtor filed a Chapter 13 plan. On March 28, 1997, FirstPlus filed a proof of claim. FirstPlus objected to the confirmation of the plan because the Debtor was attempting to strip off FirstPlus’ lien by trеating it as completely unsecured.- First-Plus asserted that this treatment was contrary to 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2), which prevents debtors from modifying the rights of holders of claims secured only by a security interest in the debtor’s principal residence. FirstPlus notes that § 1322 contains no provision that qualifies subsection (b)(2) in instances where the value of the collateral is such that the value of the Debtor’s principal residence upon sale or foreclosure would result in no funds being distributed to the holder of a mortgage.
The Debtor subsequently filed an objection to FirstPlus’ proof of claim contending that FirstPlus’ claim is entirely unsecured as the value of the real estate is, and always has been, only sufficient to cover the balance due under the first mortgage. The parties agree that the property never had value over and above the amount due on the note secured by the first mortgage held by Greentree. The Debtor asserts that it would be unjust to convert a claim that was fully unsecured *630 upon inception to a fully secured claim just because the security interest is on the Debt- or’s primary residence.
ISSUE
May a Chapter 13 Debtor strip off 1 a wholly unsecured second mortgage pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 506(a) despite the prohibitions against modifying the rights of holders of secured claims 2 in the Debtor’s principal residence contained in 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2)?
DISCUSSION
This is a case of first impression in this Court, as well as a case of first impression in the Tenth Circuit. This case conсerns the interaction of two sections of the Bankruptcy Codé (Code) — section 506(a) and section 1322(b)(2).
Section 506(a) of the Code provides:
An allowed claim of a creditor secured by a lien on property in which the estate has an interest, ... is a secured claim to the extent of the value of such creditor’s interest in the estate’s interest in such property, ... and is an , unsecured claim to the extent that the value of. such creditor’s interest or the amount so subject to set off is less than the amount of such allowed claim.
11 U.S.C. § 506(a).
In this case, the value of the Debtor’s residence has been stipulated by the parties to be $99,000. The amount of the underlying first mortgage lien on the residence is approximately $99,000. Thus, the second mortgage lien held by FirstPlus is an entirely unsecured claim pursuant to § 506(a) as the value of the residence is only sufficient to cover the balance due under the first mortgage.
In a Chapter 13 plan, the Debtor can modify the rights of holders of unsecured claims, provided that all unsecured claims in the same class are treated equally. 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b). Pursuant to § 1322(b)(2), the plan may also “modify the rights of holders of secured claims, other than a claim secured only by a security interest in real property that is the debtor’s principal residence”. 11 U-S.C. § 1322(b)(2) (emphasis added). Thus, even though a claim may be wholly unsecured under § 506(a) and could be effectively discharged under the terms of a Chapter 13 plan, if the claim is secured by a mortgage on the debtor’s principal residence, § 1322(b)(2) seemingly prohibits the Debtor from modifying the debt or avoiding the mortgage lien in the Chapter 13 plan.
The apparent conflict between § 506(a) and § 1322(b)(2) was addressed by the Supreme Court in
Nobelman v. American Savings Bank,
The Supreme Court held thаt § 1322(b)(2) prohibited a Chapter 13 debtor from reducing an undersecured homestead mortgage.
See
[T]he 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 compo-nen[t]” under § 506(a), ... however, that determinаtion 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.
Justice Stevens, in Ms concurrence, noted that while the apparent conflict in the Code sections may seem strange, it was, however, explained by the legislative history of § 1322(b)(2).
See id.
at 332,
However, as the Debtor in this ease strongly asserts, the Supreme Court in No-belman did not address the situation where the debtor is attempting to treat as unsecured a second mortgage that is completely unsecured, and which, under the facts of this case, exceeded the equity value in the residence since inception. Since the Nobelman decision in 1993, several bankruptcy courts have encountеred the situation in which a mortgage is. completely unsecured. The courts are divided, however, as to the proper treatment of wholly unsecured residential mortgages in the Chapter 13 context.
The Debtor relies on the line of cases that have held that § 1322(b)(2) does not apply to holders of totally unsecured claims.
4
These courts have found that the extension of the protection of § 1322(b)(2) to wholly underse-cured hen holders is contrary to the provisions of the Code allowing dischargeability of unsecured claims. In reaching this conclusion, these courts generally rely on the language of the Supreme Court in
Nobelman
*632
that, “[p]etitioners were correct in looking to § 506(a) for а judicial valuation of the collateral to determine the status of the bank’s secured claim... But even if we accept petitioners’ valuation, the bank is still the ‘holder’ of a ‘secured claim,’ ”
Another line of authorities, which has garnered recent support, сoncludes that mortgage holders have the right to be paid in full, even if their claims are wholly unsecured, and this right cannot be modified by a Chapter 13 plan.
6
These courts have found, when read literally, the prohibition against modification contained in § 1322(b)(2) protect all claims secured by liens on the debtor’s principal residence, despite the fact that there is not, nor was there ever, any equity in the residence to secure the mortgage. The opinions reflect the belief that the courts that have held otherwise have ignored the emphasis the
Nobelman
Court placed on the “rights” of the home mortgage creditor, and that those “rights” could not be modified. The courts interpreted the language used by the Supreme Court to indicate that it is the existence of a mortgage hen which determines the application of § 1322 and not the value of the residence subject to the hen.
7
In re Jones,
This Court is of the opinion that the latter hne of authоrities holding that a completely unsecured mortgage on a principal residence is nevertheless protected under § 1322(b)(2) from modification is the most logical and reasoned approach, and the most consistent with the Supreme Court decision in
Nobelman.
While it may seem either unfair or illogical to find that entirely unsecured mortgages are entitled to full payment in the Chapter 13 context, it is the result supported by the plain language of the exception in section 1322(b)(2).
8
The language
*633
“a
claim
secured only by a security interest in real property” indicates that Congress intended to except the “claim” from modification. 11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(2)(emphasis added). Congress knew how to use the term “secured claim” and сhose not to use that term in the exception. “If such [home mortgages] claims are to be so modified in future Chapter 13 cases, it should only be after the United States Congress has so clarified Section 1322(b)(2) to specifically provide for such modifications, and not as the result of further judicial interpretations of that subsection.”
In re Neveria,
This result is also suрported by policy considerations. As other courts and authorities have indicated 9 , too much emphasis would be placed upon the valuation of the debtor’s residence if this Court were to require a § 506(a) valuation to determine whether the mortgage is protected by § 1322(b)(2). For example, if the value of the residence in the instant case were stipulated to be $99,001, merely one dollar above the value of the first underlying mortgage held by Greentree, it would follow that First-Plus would have a “secured claim component” pursuant to Nobelman of one dollar, making the anti-modification provision of § 1322(b)(2) applicable, and FirstPlus’ claim could not be modified or avoided in the Debt- оr’s Chapter 13 plan.
Finally, this holding is consistent with the legislative intent to protect the flow of credit in the home lending market as spelled out in Justice Steven’s concurring opinion in
Nobelman. See
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court concludes the Debtor is prohibited from treating FirstPlus’ claim as unsecured or otherwise modifying the claim under the Chapter 13 plan. This opinion constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 7052 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure. Appropriate orders will be entered.
Notes
. The term "strip off" refers to lien avoidance pursuant to Section 506(d) in a Chapter 13 context (Section 1322 of the Bankruptcy Code). "[I]n recent
Nobelman
related litigation, the term 'strip off is applied where a junior mortgagee is totally unsecured as to the debtor's principal residence, while the term 'strip down’ is still used where a mortgage is partially secured, and partially unsecured.”
In re Woodhouse,
. The term "claim” is defined in § 101(5) of the Bankruptcy Code as follows: "claim” means—
(A) right to payment, whether or not such right is reduced to judgment, liquidаted, unliq-uidated, fixed, contingent, matured, unma-tured, disputed, undisputed, legal, equitable, secured, or unsecured; or
(B) right to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a right to payment ...
. The Supreme Court in
Nobelman
also expressly rejected the "rule of the last antecedent.”
.
See In re Lam,
. Additionally, some courts tend to invoke the “rule of the last antecedent” to find that the anti-modification of "clаims” applies only to "secured claims.”
See In re Sanders, 202
B.R. 986, n. 3 (Bankr.D.Neb.1996). However, this rule of construction was discussed and expressly rejected by the Court in
Nobelman. See
.
See In re Shandrew,
. See also Lundin, supra note 6, at 4-57 (2d ed. Supp.1995) ("These courts do not explain why Justice Thomas went to such pains ... to link the protection from modification in § 1322(b)(2) to the existence of a ‘claim’ secured by a lien on a debtor’ principal residence if, in addition, the creditor must have a 'secured claim’ to trigger that proteсtion.”)
. See also Lundin, supra note 6, at 4 — 59 (2d.ed.l994)("IronicalIy, Nobelman takes a permissive power of a Chapter 13 debtor in § 1322(b)(2) and turns it into a substantial incentive for lenders to take security interests in a *633 borrower’s residence even when there is no value in the residence for the lender.... Nobelman is an unfortunate incentive for some debtors to first consider Chapter 7 relief.”)
. See also Lundin, supra note 6, at 4-57 (2d ed. Supp.1995) ("Linking the antimodificаtion protection in § 1322(b)(2) to the existence of any allowable secured claim means that a mortgage holder with one dollar of collateral value is protected from modification to the extent of its entire claim, while a mortgage holder pennies 'under water’ forfeits the protection from modification with respect to its entire mortgage. This ascribes to Congress the odd intent to extend the antimodification protection in § 1322(b)(2) to residential mortgage holders with any toehold on the debtor’s property and refused'that same protection where collateral values have shifted a peppercorn below the creditor’s position. The lien rights of either creditor under state law — rights of much concern to Justice Thomas in Nobelman — are typically the same whether the mortgage holder is a dollar above or a dollar below the allowed secured claim threshold. This reading of No-belman puts an undeserved premium on valuation of residential real property — it assumes a degree of accuracy in the'valuation process that is without foundation in reality.”)