This page explains New York law. An income execution, often called a wage garnishment, is the creditor's tool for collecting a judgment from a paycheck or other regular income. Its limits are written into CPLR 5231, and a notice explaining them must be printed on every income execution. KOR Law LLP's post-judgment defense practice represents judgment debtors facing this and the creditor's other tools. Those tools are described in what happens after a money judgment is entered against you in New York.
How does an income execution reach your paycheck?
An income execution comes only after a money judgment. The execution must name the person or business paying you, the amount and frequency of your pay, and the installments to be collected, and it must tell you to start paying those installments to the sheriff at once or the execution will be served on your payor (CPLR 5231(a)). Creditors often learn where a debtor works through written questions; see whether you have to answer an information subpoena in New York. The steps then run in this order:
| Step | Timing | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Creditor issues the execution for installments of up to 10% of the debtor's income and delivers it to the sheriff where the debtor lives (or works, for a non-resident) | Any time the judgment is enforceable | 5231(b) |
| Sheriff serves the debtor, personally or by certified and regular mail | Within 20 days after delivery to the sheriff | 5231(d) |
| Debtor pays the installments to the sheriff directly | Starting at once | 5231(a) |
| If the debtor does not pay for 20 days, or cannot be served within 20 days, the sheriff serves the employer or other payor | After the 20 days | 5231(e) |
| Employer withholds the installments and pays the sheriff | Each pay period | 5231(f) |
| Sheriff accounts for and pays over what was collected | At least every 90 days | 5231(k) |
If the debtor's job ends by resignation or dismissal after the employer is served, the levy stops working and the execution is returned, unless the debtor is reinstated or rehired within 90 days (CPLR 5231(f)). If more than one income execution names the same employer, they are paid in the order they were delivered to the enforcement officer (CPLR 5231(j)). An employer that is served and fails to pay the sheriff can be sued by the creditor for the installments it should have withheld (CPLR 5231(f)).
In New York City, the sheriff is the New York City Sheriff, an office of the city's Department of Finance, which publishes a form creditors use to request an execution against income on a Small Claims or Civil Court judgment. For a Brooklyn resident, see how judgment enforcement works for a Brooklyn (Kings County) resident.
How much can be withheld each week?
Two definitions from the statutory notice matter. "Gross income" is salary, wages or other income, including overtime, commissions and trust income, before any deductions. "Disposable earnings" are what is left after deductions required by law, such as taxes, Social Security and unemployment insurance, but not voluntary deductions like union dues or insurance plans. With those in mind, CPLR 5231(b) sets these weekly limits:
| Weekly disposable earnings | Most that can be withheld |
|---|---|
| 30 times MW or less | Nothing |
| More than 30 times MW, less than 40 times MW | The lesser of the amount above 30 times MW, or 10% of gross income |
| 40 times MW or more | The lesser of 25% of disposable earnings, or 10% of gross income |
Support orders come first. If alimony, support or maintenance deductions already take 25% or more of disposable earnings, nothing can be withheld under the income execution; if they take less, the two together cannot exceed 25%. And no amount may be withheld under an income execution on a judgment from a medical debt action brought by a licensed hospital or health care professional (CPLR 5231(b)(iv)).
One detail is easy to miss. The notice printed on every income execution still explains the floor using the federal minimum wage, but CPLR 5231(b) itself uses the higher of the federal or the New York State minimum wage in effect when the earnings are payable. So the floor that actually applies may be higher than the printed illustration suggests, which is worth checking against your pay stub.
What if you work for the city, the state or a school district?
Public employers are served differently. A levy of an income execution on a municipal or public benefit corporation, or a board of education, takes effect fifteen days after service, and the execution must name the debtor's title or position and the bureau, office or department where the debtor works (CPLR 5231(h)). For pay that comes directly from a New York State department, the execution is served on the head of the department, or a person the head designates, at the department's office in Albany; pay issued on the State Comptroller's warrant is reached by serving the state Department of Audit and Control in Albany. The same weekly limits apply to public and private paychecks alike.
Can your employer fire you over a garnishment?
No. CPLR 5252 bars an employer from firing, laying off, refusing to promote or disciplining an employee, or refusing to hire someone, because an income execution was served on it or a former employer, or because a lawsuit or judgment for an alleged contract debt is pending against the worker. An employee may sue for wages lost because of a violation within 90 days after it happens; damages are capped at six weeks of lost wages, and the court may order reinstatement (CPLR 5252(2)). Only 10% of what is recovered in that action is open to creditors' claims, and a violation may also be punished as contempt.
What else protects your income?
Ninety percent of a debtor's earnings for personal services within 60 days before, and at any time after, an income execution is delivered to the sheriff is exempt from application to the judgment, except any part a court finds unnecessary for the reasonable needs of the debtor and dependents (CPLR 5205(d)(2)). Benefits such as Social Security, public assistance, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance and pensions are exempt as well. The full list is in what property a New York judgment creditor cannot take. Once pay reaches a bank account, a different set of rules applies, explained in what to do when your New York bank account is frozen by a restraining notice.
What changes the answer for your paycheck?
- A support order. Support deductions are taken first, and the income execution can take only the gap between them and 25% of disposable earnings (CPLR 5231(b)(iii)).
- A medical debt judgment. A judgment from a medical debt action by a licensed hospital or health care professional cannot be collected by income execution at all (CPLR 5231(b)(iv)).
- Retirement income. The statute's definition of earnings includes periodic pension payments (CPLR 5231(c)), but nothing in CPLR 5231 overrides an exemption granted by other law, and CPLR 5205(c) and (d)(1) protect payments from qualified retirement plans, subject to the exceptions written there.
- A public employer. City, school district and state paychecks are served through the routes in CPLR 5231(h), with a 15-day delay for municipal employers.
- The interest rate. A consumer debt judgment against an individual carries 2% a year under CPLR 5004. If the rate changes during an execution, the creditor issues an amended execution, and money collected beyond the judgment amount must be promptly returned (CPLR 5230(a), 5231(k)); see how long a New York judgment lasts and how much interest it adds.
- Where the judgment came from. A judgment from another state that was not obtained by default can be filed with a county clerk and then enforced like a New York Supreme Court judgment (CPLR 5402); enforcing out-of-state and federal judgments in New York covers the filing rules. A deficiency judgment after a foreclosure sale can order a borrower who is liable on the debt to pay what remains unpaid after the sale (RPAPL 1371(1)); we explain when lenders can seek one in who gets the surplus money after a New York foreclosure sale.
For example: one paycheck, two limits
For example, imagine an office worker whose gross pay is $1,200 a week and whose disposable earnings, after taxes and other required deductions, are $900. (This is a made-up illustration, not a real client or result.) A credit card judgment against her is delivered to the sheriff of the county where she lives on the 1st of the month, and the sheriff mails her the income execution by certified and regular mail on the 12th, within the 20 days CPLR 5231(d) allows.
Assume $900 is at least 40 times the minimum hourly wage that applies when she is paid; check the current rate. The most that can be taken is the lesser of 25% of $900 ($225) or 10% of $1,200 ($120), so $120 a week. Now suppose she also pays court-ordered child support of $135 a week through payroll, which is 15% of her disposable earnings. The execution may then take only the difference between 25% of $900 and $135, which is $90. She does not pay the sheriff directly, so after 20 days the sheriff serves her employer, and the first withholding shows on a later pay stub. If the stub shows more than $90, she contacts payroll and can move to modify the execution under CPLR 5231(i).
How can you challenge an income execution?
- Talk to the payroll department. The statutory notice tells debtors who believe too much is being withheld to contact the employer or other payor promptly, because the money is applied to the judgment.
- Move to modify. At any time, the debtor may ask the court to modify the income execution (CPLR 5231(i)).
- Ask for a protective order. CPLR 5240 lets the court deny, limit, condition or regulate any enforcement procedure, including an income execution; see whether a court can limit or stop a creditor's collection efforts.
- Challenge the judgment. If the judgment was entered on a default you can excuse, or without proper service, a motion under CPLR 5015(a) to vacate it addresses the source of the problem rather than the paycheck. The routes are in whether you can undo a default judgment in New York.
Common mistakes with a wage garnishment
- Ignoring the sheriff's mail. The first service goes to you, and the employer is served only after 20 days without payment (CPLR 5231(e)). Those 20 days are the time to act.
- Reading the printed floor as the real floor. The form's illustration uses the federal minimum wage; the statute uses the higher state rate when it applies (CPLR 5231(b)).
- Forgetting the support order. If payroll is already deducting support, tell the court and the payor, because the 25% cap is shared (CPLR 5231(b)(iii)).
- Not checking the source of the debt. A medical debt judgment from a hospital or licensed provider cannot be collected this way (CPLR 5231(b)(iv)).
- Quitting to stop the garnishment. The levy ends when a job ends, but it revives if you are rehired within 90 days (CPLR 5231(f)), and the judgment itself remains.
What to do this week
- Find the income execution and the envelope it came in, and note the date the sheriff served you.
- Pull your last few pay stubs and work out your gross pay and your disposable earnings for a week.
- Apply the limits in the table above, using the higher of the federal or New York minimum wage in effect when you are paid.
- List any support orders and any other income executions already taken from your pay.
- Look up which court entered the judgment and when, and whether you were served in that case.
- Gather the papers on our judgment enforcement consultation checklist and speak with a lawyer before the employer is served if you can.
Frequently asked questions
Can a creditor garnish my wages without a judgment?
Not under CPLR 5231, which works only for a judgment creditor against a judgment debtor. A restraining notice also cannot be served on your employer to hold your wages (CPLR 5222(a)). If wages are being taken and you never saw a judgment, find out which court entered one.
Can I keep my employer from being served?
The statute gives you that option. The execution tells you to start paying the installments to the sheriff at once, and it is served on your employer only if you do not pay for 20 days or cannot be served within 20 days (CPLR 5231(a), (e)).
How long does an income execution last?
The 60-day return deadline that applies to other executions does not apply once an income execution has been served under CPLR 5231 (CPLR 5230(c)). Withholding continues while the execution is in force: until the judgment is paid, the court modifies or vacates it, or the job ends and you are not rehired within 90 days (CPLR 5231(f), (i)).
Can a creditor garnish my wages and freeze my bank account at the same time?
The statutes treat them as separate tools, and an employer cannot be served with a restraining notice for wages (CPLR 5222(a)). Wages that reach your account are protected in part: the exemption notice sent with a bank restraint lists 90% of income earned in the last 60 days as exempt.
Does a garnishment cover a pension or other income?
CPLR 5231(b) reaches money a judgment debtor receives "from any source," and its definition of earnings includes commissions, bonuses and periodic pension payments (CPLR 5231(c)). Exemptions granted by other law still apply, including the retirement plan protections in CPLR 5205(c).
What happens once the judgment is paid?
The creditor must file a satisfaction-piece with the clerk and mail you a copy within ten days of filing (CPLR 5020(a)). If the creditor fails to file within 20 days after full payment, it faces a statutory penalty of $100, or $500 if the judgment was $5,000 or more (CPLR 5020(c)).