Opinion ID: 795702
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 4 The Church is a not-for-profit corporation organized under the laws of New York and is composed of more than one hundred Christian churches located throughout the United States. The Church is qualified to accept charitable contributions within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code § 170(c). 5 Boisrond joined the Church in 1997 and attended the location in Brooklyn, New York. She testified at her deposition that the Church had helped her overcome personal problems, and that she had been active in the Church ever since. After Boisrond joined the Church, she began tithing, or giving ten percent of her income to the Church, by making contributions on at least a biweekly basis. She testified that she felt good about the money she gave because it went to help others improve their lives. 6 From 1993 to 2000, Boisrond made charitable contributions to the Church and other charities as follows: 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adj. Gross Income $51,630 $56,229 $60,545 N/A $65,433 $66,048 $68,076 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gifts to the Church $0 $0 $0 $0 $47,946.77 $20,018.31 $11,012.20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Charitable Giving $4,684 $3,999 $115 N/A $47,946.77 $20,018.31 $15,960.97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- % of Income to Church 0% 0% 0% 0% 73.3% 30.3% 16.2% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Most of the contributions to the Church were made in increments of less than $1,500, although a few were far more substantial. The largest single contribution Boisrond made was in 1997, when she made a contribution of $22,566.97 from her savings account. 9 In the years prior to filing for bankruptcy, Boisrond was earning approximately $65,000 per year working as a nurse for Brookdale Hospital. This job required her to work nights and was very stressful, so, in 2000, Boisrond accepted a less pressure-filled position with a nursing school, earning around $44,000. On January 12, 2000, Boisrond filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At this time, she had approximately $52,000 in credit card debt and was having difficulty making her credit card payments. The bankruptcy court granted Boisrond a discharge on June 30, 2000. 10 On December 12, 2001, Geltzer, as the trustee of Boisrond's estate, commenced proceedings against the Church to set aside the contributions Boisrond had made from 1997 to 1999. 1 The parties cross-moved for summary judgment. The bankruptcy court found no material factual dispute concerning Boisrond's insolvency during the relevant years. The court then granted partial summary judgment to the Church, finding that RLCDPA prevents the trustee from avoiding any transfer to a charitable organization where the individual transfer is less than 15 percent of the debtor's income. The bankruptcy court also granted partial summary judgment to Geltzer, finding he could avoid the single individual contribution that exceeded 15 percent of Boisronds's income, the one in 1997 for $22,566.97. 11 On appeal to the district court, the Church contested the finding that Boisrond was insolvent, argued that Boisrond received fair consideration for her contributions, and contended that requiring the Church to return the contributions would be unconstitutional. Geltzer also appealed, arguing that the RLCDPA 15 percent safe-harbor provision requires consideration of the debtor's aggregate annual contributions, rather than each individual contribution as the bankruptcy court had found. The district court agreed with Geltzer on the aggregation issue and rejected each of the Church's other claims. The Church then attempted to raise two additional defenses to avoidance in a motion to reconsider—(1) that the portion of the transfer less than 15 percent of the debtor's income cannot be avoided, and (2) that none of the transfers could be avoided because Boisrond's charitable giving had been consistent over the years and thus was protected by 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(2)(B)—but the district court found these defenses had been abandoned because they were not raised initially. The Church now appeals both decisions of the district court.