Whitener v. Graham (In Re Whitener)

OPINION

EMIL F. GOLDHABER, Chief Judge:

The matter for decision is whether we may authorize partial avoidance of a creditor’s lien in the debtor’s interest in realty under 11 U.S.C. § 506 of the Bankruptcy Code (“the Code”). For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the lien may be avoided in full.

We summarize the facts of this case as follows: 1 In 1971 the debtor and his wife purchased a parcel of realty as tenants by the entireties. They were divorced four years later, the tenancy by the entireties was severed and each was awarded a one-half interest in the property.

The realty is…