Income execution: how wage garnishment actually works in New York
By Kai Greenspan, Founding Editor
Every quotation on this page matches the official text word for word, as last downloaded on August 19, 2026.
This page is educational information built on the statute and the CFPB's public guidance, quoted and linked, with dates. It is not legal advice. New York's court system and legal aid services provide help with garnishment orders, and time-barred or disputed debts are exactly the cases where advice is worth getting.
First, nothing happens without a judgment
Income execution is a post-judgment enforcement device: it collects a money judgment a court has already entered. The CFPB states the general rule plainly: "Most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying that you owe the debt." A collector's telephone threat is not a judgment, and New York's three-year limitations period on consumer credit claims, covered on the New York law page, decides whether a lawsuit can even begin.
CFPB: Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages or benefits? (last reviewed by the CFPB August 2, 2023), checked August 14, 2026.
The caps and the floor, from the statute
CPLR Section 5231(b) caps an income execution at 10 percent of earnings, and the same subdivision adds a second ceiling. Beneath both sits a floor, in the statute's own words: "no amount shall be withheld from the judgment debtor's earnings pursuant to an income execution for any week unless the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week exceed the greater of thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed in the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 or thirty times the state minimum hourly wage". Because New York's minimum wage exceeds the federal one, that floor protects more of a low paycheck than federal law alone would.
The second ceiling is the one most often stated wrongly. It is not a flat 25 percent. Subdivision (b)(ii) says the amount withheld "shall not exceed twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week, or, the amount by which the disposable earnings of the judgment debtor for that week exceed" that same thirty-times-minimum-wage figure, "whichever is less". Disposable earnings are what is left "after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld".
The practical effect runs in the debtor's favor. For someone earning just above the floor, the second limb is far smaller than 25 percent, so that smaller figure is the one that applies. Twenty-five percent only becomes the operative cap well above the floor. Anyone told a flat quarter of their disposable pay is due should check both limbs.
Two further provisions sit in the same subdivision. Where earnings are already subject to deductions for alimony, support or maintenance under CPLR 5241 or 5242, subdivision (b)(iii) governs how an income execution interacts with them. And subdivision (b)(iv) removes the deduction altogether for one class of judgment: "no amount shall be imposed in judgments arising from a medical debt action brought by a hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law or a health care professional authorized under title eight of the education law." Where that applies the answer is not ten percent, it is nothing.
NY CPLR Section 5231, quoted August 14, 2026.
The two-stage process: usually you are served before your employer
The statute builds in a chance to handle the debt privately. Stage one, subdivision (d): "Within twenty days after an income execution is delivered to the sheriff, the sheriff shall serve a copy of it upon the judgment debtor", and the debtor may then pay the installments directly. Stage two follows on either of two triggers, which is why subdivision (e) is headed "levy upon default or failure to serve debtor": the sheriff levies by serving the income execution on the employer or other income source if the debtor fails to pay installments for twenty days, or if the sheriff is unable to serve the income execution on the debtor within twenty days of its delivery. So paying the installments is what avoids stage one becoming stage two, but a debtor the sheriff cannot reach can have their employer served without ever having missed a payment.
NY CPLR Section 5231(d), (e), quoted August 14, 2026.
Bank accounts are a different question
An income execution reaches earnings; a bank account is levied differently, and federal protections apply on top of New York's. The CFPB's guidance: "The bank must review your account and protect two months' worth of direct-deposited benefits before freezing or garnishing any money in the account", covering directly deposited federal benefits such as Social Security, and "State exemptions may also protect some wages or property ... from garnishment", with money in a bank account as its example. New York maintains account protections of its own beyond that federal floor; the CFPB page linked above is the practical starting point, and account-freeze cases are ones where legal aid earns its keep quickly.
Common questions about income execution
Can a debt collector garnish my wages in New York?
Only with a court judgment, and only within strict limits. New York calls wage garnishment an income execution, governed by CPLR Section 5231. A collector cannot touch wages just by demanding them: per the CFPB, "Most creditors can only garnish wages or benefits after a court issues a judgment saying that you owe the debt." After a judgment, the statute caps what can be taken at 10 percent of earnings under subdivision (b). A second limit applies to weekly withholding: 25 percent of disposable earnings, or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed thirty times the greater of the federal or New York minimum hourly wage, whichever is less. Nothing at all may be withheld in a week where disposable earnings do not exceed that thirty-times figure.
How much of my paycheck can an income execution take?
CPLR Section 5231(b) sets the ceiling at 10 percent of earnings, and adds two protections that operate together. Weekly withholding cannot exceed 25 percent of disposable earnings (pay left after legally required deductions) or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed thirty times the greater of the federal or state minimum hourly wage, whichever is less, so for earnings just above that floor the true cap is well below 25 percent. And no amount may be withheld at all in any week where disposable earnings do not exceed that figure. Subdivision (b)(iv) removes the deduction entirely for one class of judgment: no amount may be imposed in judgments arising from a medical debt action brought by a hospital licensed under article twenty-eight of the public health law or a health care professional authorized under title eight of the education law. Because New York’s minimum wage is higher than the federal one, the New York floor protects more of a low paycheck than federal law alone would.
What is the two-stage process before my employer is contacted?
The statute builds in a chance to pay first. Under CPLR Section 5231(d), within twenty days of receiving the income execution the sheriff serves it on the debtor, not the employer; subdivision (e), headed "levy upon default or failure to serve debtor", directs the sheriff to serve the income execution on the employer or other income source on either of two triggers: the debtor failing to pay installments for twenty days, or the sheriff being unable to serve the debtor within twenty days of delivery. Keeping up the installments is what prevents the first. The second is outside the debtor’s control: if the sheriff cannot serve the debtor within twenty days, the income execution can go to the employer before the debtor has been served with it.
Can a collector take money from my bank account in New York?
A bank account is a separate question from wages, and federal protections apply regardless of state: per the CFPB, "The bank must review your account and protect two months’ worth of direct-deposited benefits before freezing or garnishing any money in the account", covering Social Security and other federal benefits, and "State exemptions may also protect some wages or property ... from garnishment", giving money in a bank account as its example. New York maintains its own account protections beyond the federal floor; the CFPB’s page, linked on this page, is the place to start.
A collector threatened to garnish my wages. Is that legal?
Without a judgment, the threat gets ahead of what the law allows. Garnishing New York wages requires a court judgment first, then the capped, two-stage income execution process under CPLR Section 5231. New York’s prohibited-practices law and the federal FDCPA both restrict collectors from threatening action they cannot lawfully take, so a garnishment threat from a collector holding no judgment is a claim worth checking rather than taking at face value, and worth reporting if it was false. The three-year limitations period on consumer credit claims, covered on our New York law page, also matters: a time-barred debt cannot produce the judgment the garnishment would need.
Related pages
New York debt collection laws
The three-year rule, the license requirement and prohibited practices, quoted from the statutes.
Wage garnishment in Texas
The opposite answer: why a garnishment threat over consumer debt is itself a red flag in Texas.
Wage garnishment in Florida
The head of family exemption that protects all earnings up to $750 a week.
Wage garnishment in California
An order under a money judgment, capped at 20 percent with a minimum-wage floor, and a support exemption on top.
Wage garnishment in Illinois
A wage deduction order under a judgment, capped at the lesser of 15 percent of gross wages or the amount above 45 times the minimum wage.
Is a debt collector legitimate? New York
The public-record checks, including when no license applies at all.
The New York directory
Every agency here has passed the license check, with sources shown.