The United State Supreme Court agreed on Monday to listen to 2 cases brought by Bank of America Corp examining whether a 2nd home mortgage on an ‘Underwater’ house - one with a home loan balance exceeding its present value - could be voided during bankruptcy.

Both cases the justices consented to hear to come from Florida, where many homeowners have struggled to pay their mortgages following the current real estate crisis.

The home owners in the two cases, David Caulkett and also Edelmiro Toledo-Cardona, both succeeded just before the regional allures court that oversees Florida.

The 11th UNITED STATE Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that residents in Chapter 7 bankruptcy can void - or in bankruptcy terms ‘Strip Off’ - a 2nd home loan when the debt owed to the holder of the first mortgage is greater than the property's present value.

That means the lender loses its capacity to foreclose on the property even if it’s value increases.

Bank of America, which is the 2nd mortgage holder in both cases, said in court papers that the approach taken by the 11th Circuit is various compared to other allures courts around the country. The bank says that potentially thousands of cases pending in lower courts could be impacted by exactly how the Supreme Court rules.

A choice is due by the end of June. The cases are Bank of America v. Caulkett and also Bank of America v. Toledo-Cardona, UNITED STATE Supreme Court, and Nos. 13-1421 and 14-163.