Can You Garnish Wages in New York?
If a debtor in New York owes you money and has not made payments as agreed, you have a variety options for attempting to collect the debt. Sending late notices and calling the debtor are among the simplest strategies; however, if the debtor does not respond, you may use more forceful tactics. If you follow procedures required by the state of New York, these tactics may include garnishment of the debtor's wages.
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Executing Wage Garnishment
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Before you can garnish a debtor's wages, you must file a lawsuit against the debtor in civil court, typically in the county where the debtor resides. In most cases, the court awards you a judgment for the debt, plus interest and court costs. After the court has awarded judgment, you may apply for a writ of garnishment through the court. The court then serves the debtor's employer with a garnishment order, and the employer must begin withholding the debtor's earnings to apply to the judgment debt.
Limitations on Garnishment
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New York places more stringent monetary limitations on wage garnishment than most other states -- you can only garnish 10 percent of the debtor's gross income, compared to 25 percent of post-tax income in states that follow federal wage garnishment laws. However, New York mimics federal law concerning garnishment of low-income debtors' wages -- if the debtor earns less than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage per week, the debtor's income is completely exempt from garnishment.
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Time Limitations
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New York law imposes a separate statute of limitations for initiating a lawsuit and collecting a judgment. You may only file a lawsuit against the debtor within six years after he defaults on the debt -- that is, the date he stops making payments. If you file a lawsuit within this timeframe and the court awards a judgment for the debt, you have 20 years to collect from the debtor through wage garnishment or other strategies.
Considerations
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Filing a lawsuit against a debtor does not guarantee the ability to execute a wage garnishment order on the debtor's employer. New York permits debtors to raise limited defenses when served with a lawsuit summons -- if the debtor raises a valid defense, the court will dismiss your case. Typically, the court will only dismiss the case if you did not follow proper procedures when filing the lawsuit or the debtor can show she has already paid you. Also, the debtor may object to the garnishment order if she can show that the judgment was not properly issued -- for example, if the debtor can show that the statute of limitations expired before you filed the lawsuit, the court may vacate the judgment and overturn the garnishment order.
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