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creditors of consumer debtors which do not seriously impinge upon the goals of equality of treatment and avoidance of undue pressure for payment. See, e.g., In re Djerf, 188 B.R. 586 (Bankr. D. Minn. 1995).
11 U,S.C. § 8 defines "consumer debt" as a "debt incurred by an individual primarily for a personal, family, or household purpose." "Consumer debt" can include debts secured by real estate. E.g., McDaniel
v. Nationwide, 85 B.R: 69 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 1988). Generally, notwithstanding use of singular term "transfer" in (c)(6), courts have held that multiple transfers of less than $600 to the same creditor can be aggregated to remove payments from the exception. See, e.g., Matter of Hailes, 77 F.3d 873 (5th Cir. 1996); In re Clark, 217 B.R. 89 (W.D. Ky. 1995); In re Alarcon, 186 B.R. 135 (Bankr. D.N.M. 1995); but see In re Howes, 165 B.R. 270 (Bankr. E.D. Mo. 1994) (separate prepetition garnishments of less than $600 each were not aggregated even though in payment of the same debt).
The defense is an "all or nothing" proposition; that is, if it applies, it will shield an entire transfer, but it cannot be used to protect up to $599.99 of a transfer greater than $600, even though the transfer was made by an individual debtor with primarily consumer debts. E.g., In re Via, 107 B.R. 91 (Bankr. W.D. Va. 1989). The defense applies whether the subject transfer was voluntary - i.e., a payment by the debtor - or involuntary - i.e., a garnishment.
Section 547(c)(9), added by BAPCPA, is oriented toward protection for small transfers relating to payments primarily on nonconsumer debts, within the preference period, whether or not the transfers are made in the ordinary course. Section 547(c)(9) provides that a transfer may not be avoided if "in a case filed by a debtor whose debts are not primarily consumer debts, the aggregate value of all property that constitutes or is affected by such transfer is less than $5,000." This exception applies in nonconsumer cases such that the trustee cannot seek to avoid a transfer if the aggregate property at issue is less than $5,000. Similar issues relating to the aggregating of transfers discussed above relating to consumer debts
