New York Wage Garnishment: Income Execution Limits and How to Stop It

Wage garnishment is one of the collection tools covered in New York consumer protection and how to enforce your rights. This article explains how an income execution against wages works in New York, how much of a paycheck it can reach, which income the law puts off-limits, and the specific ways a debtor can stop or reduce one.

How an income execution works in New York

New York does not use the phrase “wage garnishment” in its statutes. The procedure is called an income execution, and it is governed by N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5231. An income execution is a post-judgment collection device: a creditor cannot reach a paycheck until it has already sued, won, and obtained a money judgment. A debt that a creditor has not reduced to a judgment cannot be garnished, and a debt that fell outside New York’s debt collection statute of limitations before the lawsuit was filed generally cannot support a valid judgment in the first place.

Once a creditor holds a judgment, it delivers the income execution to an enforcement officer, a county sheriff in most of the state, or a city marshal in New York City. The officer does not go straight to the employer. Under C.P.L.R. § 5231(d), within 20 days after the income execution is delivered, the officer first serves it on the debtor, who then has the chance to start paying the required installment directly. Only if the debtor defaults on those payments for 20 days does the officer serve the execution on the employer under C.P.L.R. § 5231(e). At that point the employer must begin withholding from each paycheck and forwarding the money to the officer.

How much of your paycheck can be taken

New York layers a state cap on top of the federal ceiling, and the smaller number controls. Under N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5231(b), an income execution for a consumer debt cannot exceed 10% of gross income. A separate federal limit in the Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1673, caps the deduction at 25% of disposable earnings, what is left after legally required deductions such as taxes. For most ordinary paychecks, 10% of gross pay is the lower figure, so 10% is what actually comes out.

There is also a floor below which nothing can be taken. C.P.L.R. § 5231(b) bars any withholding unless disposable earnings for the week exceed 30 times the greater of the federal or the state minimum hourly wage. Under federal law that floor is $217.50 a week (30 × the $7.25 federal minimum wage), as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Title III garnishment fact sheet explains. New York’s minimum wage is higher, so the state figure governs: as of January 1, 2026, N.Y. Labor Law § 652(1-a) sets it at $17.00 an hour in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County, and $16.00 an hour in the rest of the state.

Income and benefits that are exempt

Two layers of exemption protect a debtor’s income. The first mirrors the income-execution cap: under C.P.L.R. § 5205(d)(2), 90% of earnings for personal services rendered within 60 days before, and at any time after, the income execution is delivered are exempt from a money judgment. That 90% shield is the mirror image of the 10% ceiling, it is why an ordinary creditor cannot reach more than a tenth of gross wages.

The second layer removes certain benefit income entirely, no matter the amount. C.P.L.R. § 5205(l) exempts payments such as Social Security (including retirement, survivors’, and disability benefits), Supplemental Security Income, veterans benefits, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, public assistance, child support received, and public and private pensions. When those exempt payments are directly deposited, the statute also protects a baseline amount in the account from a bank levy. Income that consists only of exempt benefits generally cannot be garnished at all.

How to stop or reduce an income execution

An income execution is not permanent, and several routes can end or shrink it. Which route fits depends on facts the debtor evaluates: whether the judgment is valid, whether the income is exempt, and whether the amount taken exceeds the statutory cap.

1. Pay or settle the judgment

   Paying the judgment in full ends the income execution because there is nothing left to collect. A creditor may also agree to accept a lump sum for less than the full balance or a voluntary payment plan; when a settlement is paid, the creditor files a satisfaction of judgment and the withholding stops.

2. Claim an exemption

   A debtor whose income is exempt, or whose disposable earnings fall below the 30-times-minimum-wage floor under C.P.L.R. § 5205, can assert that exemption to the enforcement officer and, if needed, ask the court to release the funds. Exempt benefits such as Social Security and unemployment are protected even after they reach a bank account.

3. Move to vacate the judgment

   If the judgment was entered by default because the debtor was never properly served (a common problem in consumer debt-buyer cases), the debtor can file an order to show cause asking the court to vacate the judgment. Vacating the judgment removes the legal basis for the income execution.

4. Ask the court to modify the amount

   Under C.P.L.R. § 5231, either the debtor or the creditor can apply to the court to modify an income execution, for example, when the standard deduction leaves the debtor unable to meet basic needs.

5. File bankruptcy

   Filing a bankruptcy petition triggers an automatic stay that halts wage garnishment while the case proceeds, and a discharge can eliminate the underlying debt.

If the collection conduct behind the garnishment was abusive or the debt is not owed, a debtor can also file a complaint with the New York Attorney General, which enforces state debt-collection rules. A complaint does not by itself stop an income execution, but it creates a record and can prompt review of the creditor’s practices.

When more than one creditor is collecting

Only one income execution for a consumer money judgment can be actively deducting from wages at a time. When several creditors deliver income executions, C.P.L.R. § 5231(j) sets priority by the order in which each execution is delivered to an enforcement officer, first delivered, first paid. A later creditor waits until the earlier execution is satisfied or released.

Support obligations sit outside this queue. A court order for child support or spousal support is collected as an income deduction with priority over ordinary judgment creditors, and the combined withholding for support can exceed the 10% consumer-debt cap. The New York Courts self-help materials on collecting a money judgment explain how income executions and other enforcement tools fit together.