n5 We are baffled by the dissent's perception of a
"patent" difference between zoning and foreclosure laws insofar as impact upon
property value is concerned, post, at 10-11, n. 10. The only distinction we perceive is
that the former constitute permanent restrictions upon use of the subject property, while
the latter apply for a brief period of time and restrict only the manner of its sale. This
difference says nothing about how significantly the respective regimes affect the
property's value when they are operative. The dissent characterizes foreclosure rules as
"merely procedural," and asserts that this renders them, unlike
"substantive" zoning regulations, irrelevant in bankruptcy. We are not sure we
agree with the characterization. But in any event, the cases relied on for this
distinction all address creditors' attempts to claim the benefit of state rules of law
(whether procedural or substantive) as property rights, in a bankruptcy proceeding. See
United Savings Assn. of Texas v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd., 484 U.S. 365,
370-371, 98 L. Ed. 2d 740, 108 S. Ct. 626 (1988); Owen v. Owen, 500 U.S. 305, 313, 114 L.
Ed. 2d 350, 111 S. Ct. 1833 (1991); United States v. Whiting Pools, Inc., 462 U.S. 198,
206-207, 76 L. Ed. 2d 515, 103 S. Ct. 2309, and nn. 14, 15 (1983). None of them declares
or even intimates that state laws, procedural or otherwise, are irrelevant to
prebankruptcy valuation questions such as that presented by 548(a)(2)(A).