2023 New York Laws › CVP - Civil Practice Law and Rules › Article 52 - Enforcement of Money Judgments › 5222 - Restraining Notice.

§  5222.  Restraining  notice.
(a)  Issuance; on whom served; form;
service. A restraining notice may be issued by the clerk of the court or
the attorney for the judgment creditor as officer of the  court,  or  by
the  support  collection  unit  designated  by  the  appropriate  social
services district. It may be served upon any person, except the employer
of a judgment  debtor  or  obligor  where  the  property  sought  to  be
restrained  consists  of  wages  or  salary  due or to become due to the
judgment debtor or obligor. It shall be served personally  in  the  same
manner  as  a summons or by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested or if issued by the support collection unit, by regular  mail,
or  by electronic means as set forth in subdivision (g) of this section.
It shall specify all of the parties to the action,  the  date  that  the
judgment  or  order  was entered, the court in which it was entered, the
amount of the judgment or order and the amount  then  due  thereon,  the
names  of  all  parties  in whose favor and against whom the judgment or
order was entered, it shall set forth subdivision (b)  and  shall  state
that  disobedience  is  punishable  as a contempt of court, and it shall
contain an original signature or copy of the original signature  of  the
clerk  of  the  court  or attorney or the name of the support collection
unit which issued it. If the applicable interest rate  changes  pursuant
to  section  five  thousand four of this chapter while a restraint is in
effect, the judgment creditor shall issue an amended restraining notice,
and include the date as of which the new interest rate applies,  without
leave  of  court  as  required  under  subdivision  (c) of this section.
Service of a restraining notice upon a department or agency of the state
or upon an institution under its direction shall be made  by  serving  a
copy upon the head of the department, or the person designated by him or
her  and upon the state department of audit and control at its office in
Albany; a restraining notice served upon a state board, commission, body
or agency which is not within any department of the state shall be  made
by serving the restraining notice upon the state department of audit and
control  at  its office in Albany. Service at the office of a department
of the state in Albany may be made by  the  sheriff  of  any  county  by
registered  or certified mail, return receipt requested, or if issued by
the support collection unit, by regular mail.
(b) Effect of restraint; prohibition of transfer; duration. A judgment
debtor or obligor served with a restraining notice is forbidden to  make
or  suffer  any  sale,  assignment,  transfer  or  interference with any
property in which he or she has an interest,  except  as  set  forth  in
subdivisions  (h)  and (i) of this section, and except upon direction of
the sheriff or pursuant to an order of the court, until the judgment  or
order is satisfied or vacated. A restraining notice served upon a person
other  than  the judgment debtor or obligor is effective only if, at the
time of service, he or she owes a debt to the judgment debtor or obligor
or he or she is in the possession or custody of property in which he  or
she knows or has reason to believe the judgment debtor or obligor has an
interest,  or  if  the  judgment creditor or support collection unit has
stated in the notice that a specified debt is owed by the person  served
to the judgment debtor or obligor or that the judgment debtor or obligor
has  an  interest  in specified property in the possession or custody of
the person served. All property in which the judgment debtor or  obligor
is  known  or believed to have an interest then in and thereafter coming
into the possession or custody of such a person, including any specified
in the notice, and all debts of such a person, including  any  specified
in the notice, then due and thereafter coming due to the judgment debtor
or  obligor,  shall  be  subject  to  the  notice except as set forth in
subdivisions (h) and (i) of this section. Such a person is forbidden  to
make  or suffer any sale, assignment or transfer of, or any interference

with, any such property, or pay over or otherwise dispose  of  any  such
debt,  to  any  person  other than the sheriff or the support collection
unit, except as set forth in subdivisions (h) and (i) of  this  section,
and  except upon direction of the sheriff or pursuant to an order of the
court, until the expiration of one year after the notice is served  upon
him  or  her,  or  until  the judgment or order is satisfied or vacated,
whichever event first occurs. A judgment creditor or support  collection
unit  which  has  specified  personal  property or debt in a restraining
notice shall be liable to the owner of the property  or  the  person  to
whom the debt is owed, if other than the judgment debtor or obligor, for
any  damages sustained by reason of the restraint. If a garnishee served
with a restraining notice withholds the payment of  money  belonging  or
owed  to  the judgment debtor or obligor in an amount equal to twice the
amount due on the judgment or  order,  the  restraining  notice  is  not
effective as to other property or money.
(c)  Subsequent  notice. Leave of court is required to serve more than
one restraining notice upon the same person with  respect  to  the  same
judgment  or  order.  A  judgment creditor shall not serve more than two
restraining notices per year upon a natural person's banking institution
account. If the applicable interest rate  changes  pursuant  to  section
five  thousand  four of this chapter while a restraint is in effect, the
judgment creditor shall issue  an  amended  restraining  notice  without
leave of court.
(d)  Notice to judgment debtor or obligor. Except where the provisions
of  section  fifty-two  hundred  twenty-two-a  of   this   article   are
applicable,  pursuant to subdivision (a) of such section, if a notice in
the form prescribed in subdivision (e) of  this  section  has  not  been
given  to the judgment debtor or obligor within a year before service of
a restraining notice, a copy of the restraining notice together with the
notice to judgment debtor or obligor shall be mailed by first class mail
or personally delivered to each judgment debtor  or  obligor  who  is  a
natural  person  within  four  days  of  the  service of the restraining
notice. Such notice shall be mailed to  the  defendant  at  his  or  her
residence  address;  or  in  the  event  such  mailing  is  returned  as
undeliverable by the post office, or if the  residence  address  of  the
defendant  is  unknown,  then  to  the defendant in care of the place of
employment of the defendant if known, in an envelope bearing the  legend
"personal  and  confidential" and not indicating on the outside thereof,
by the return address or otherwise, that the communication  is  from  an
attorney  or  concerns  a judgment or order; or if neither the residence
address nor the place of employment of the defendant is  known  then  to
the defendant at any other known address.
(e)  Content of notice. The notice required by subdivision (d) of this
section shall be in substantially the following form and may be included
in the restraining notice:
NOTICE TO JUDGMENT DEBTOR OR OBLIGOR
Money or property belonging to you may have  been  taken  or  held  in
order to satisfy a judgment or order which has been entered against you.
Read this carefully.
YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK
State  and  federal  laws prevent certain money or property from being
taken to satisfy judgments or orders. Such money or property is said  to
be  "exempt".  The  following  is  a  partial list of money which may be
exempt:
1. Supplemental security income, (SSI);
2. Social security;
3. Public assistance (welfare);
4. Spousal support, maintenance (alimony) or child support;
5. Unemployment benefits;
6. Disability benefits;
7. Workers' compensation benefits;
8. Public or private pensions;
9. Veterans benefits;
10.  Ninety  percent  of your wages or salary earned in the last sixty
days;
11.  Twenty-five  hundred  dollars  of  any  bank  account  containing
statutorily  exempt  payments  that  were deposited electronically or by
direct deposit within the  last  forty-five  days,  including,  but  not
limited to, your social security, supplemental security income, veterans
benefits,   public   assistance,   workers'  compensation,  unemployment
insurance, public or private  pensions,  railroad  retirement  benefits,
black lung benefits, or child support payments;
12. Railroad retirement;
13. Black lung benefits; and
14.  COVID-19  stimulus  relief  for  individuals  and  families  with
children.
If you think that any of your money that has been  taken  or  held  is
exempt,  you  must  act promptly because the money may be applied to the
judgment or order. If you claim that any of your  money  that  has  been
taken or held is exempt, you may contact the person sending this notice.
Also,  YOU  MAY CONSULT AN ATTORNEY, INCLUDING ANY FREE LEGAL SERVICES
ORGANIZATION IF YOU QUALIFY.  You  can  also  go  to  court  without  an
attorney to get your money back. Bring this notice with you when you go.
You  are  allowed  to  try to prove to a judge that your money is exempt
from collection under New York civil practice law  and  rules,  sections
fifty-two   hundred  twenty-two-a,  fifty-two  hundred  thirty-nine  and
fifty-two hundred forty. If you do not have a lawyer, the clerk  of  the
court  may give you forms to help you prove your account contains exempt
money that the creditor cannot collect. The law (New York civil practice
law and rules, article four and sections fifty-two  hundred  thirty-nine
and fifty-two hundred forty) provides a procedure for determination of a
claim to an exemption.
(f)  For  the  purposes  of  this  section "order" shall mean an order
issued by a court of competent jurisdiction  directing  the  payment  of
support,  alimony  or  maintenance  upon which a "default" as defined in
paragraph  seven  of  subdivision  (a)  of  section  fifty-two   hundred
forty-one of this article has been established subject to the procedures
established  for  the  determination  of  a "mistake of fact" for income
executions pursuant to subdivision  (e)  of  section  fifty-two  hundred
forty-one  of  this article except that for the purposes of this section
only a default shall not  be  founded  upon  retroactive  child  support
obligations  as  defined  in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section
four hundred forty of the  family  court  act  and  subdivision  one  of
section two hundred forty and paragraph b of subdivision nine of section
two hundred thirty-six of the domestic relations law.
(g)  Restraining  notice  in  the  form  of  magnetic  tape  or  other
electronic means. Where such  person  consents  thereto  in  writing,  a
restraining  notice  in  the  form  of magnetic tape or other electronic
means, as defined in subdivision (f) of rule twenty-one hundred three of
this chapter, may be served upon a person other than the judgment debtor
or obligor. A restraining notice in such form shall contain all  of  the
information  required  to  be  specified  in  a restraining notice under
subdivision (a), except for  the  original  signature  or  copy  of  the
original  signature  of the clerk or attorney who issued the restraining
notice. The provisions of this subdivision notwithstanding,  the  notice

required  by  subdivisions  (d)  and  (e) shall be given to the judgment
debtor or obligor in the written form set forth therein.
(h)  Effect  of  restraint  on  judgment  debtor's banking institution
account into which statutorily exempt payments are  made  electronically
or  by direct deposit. Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (b)
of this section, if direct deposit  or  electronic  payments  reasonably
identifiable  as statutorily exempt payments as defined in paragraph two
of subdivision (l) of section fifty-two hundred  five  of  this  article
were  made  to  the  judgment debtor's account during the forty-five day
period preceding the date that the restraining notice was served on  the
banking institution, then the banking institution shall not restrain two
thousand  five  hundred dollars in the judgment debtor's account. If the
account contains an amount equal to  or  less  than  two  thousand  five
hundred dollars, the account shall not be restrained and the restraining
notice  shall  be  deemed  void.  Nothing  in  this subdivision shall be
construed to limit  a  banking  institution's  right  or  obligation  to
restrain  or  remove  such  funds  from the judgment debtor's account if
required by 42 U.S.C. § 659 or 38 U.S.C. § 5301 or  by  a  court  order.
Nothing  in this subdivision shall alter the exempt status of funds that
are protected from execution, levy,  attachment,  garnishment  or  other
legal  process,  under section fifty-two hundred five of this article or
under any other provision of state or federal law, or affect  the  right
of a judgment debtor to claim such exemption.
(i)  Effect  of  restraint  on  judgment  debtor's banking institution
account. A restraining notice issued pursuant to this section shall  not
apply  to  an  amount  equal  to or less than the greater of two hundred
forty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed in the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 or two  hundred  forty  times  the  state  minimum
hourly wage prescribed in section six hundred fifty-two of the labor law
as  in  effect at the time the earnings are payable (as published on the
websites of  the  United  States  department  of  labor  and  the  state
department  of  labor) except such part thereof as a court determines to
be unnecessary for the reasonable requirements of  the  judgment  debtor
and  his  or  her  dependents.  This  amount shall be equal to seventeen
hundred sixteen dollars on the effective date of this  subdivision,  and
shall rise to seventeen hundred forty dollars on July twenty-fourth, two
thousand  nine,  and  shall  rise  thereafter in tandem with the minimum
wage. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to limit a  banking
institution's  right or obligation to restrain or remove such funds from
the judgment debtor's account if required by  42  U.S.C.  §  659  or  38
U.S.C.  §  5301  or  by a court order. Where a judgment debtor's account
contains an amount equal to or less than ninety percent of  the  greater
of two hundred forty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed in
the  Fair  Labor  Standards  Act  of 1938 or two hundred forty times the
state minimum hourly wage prescribed in section six hundred fifty-two of
the labor law as in effect at the time  the  earnings  are  payable  (as
published  on  the websites of the United States department of labor and
the state department of labor), the account shall not be restrained  and
the  restraining  notice  shall be deemed void, except as to those funds
that  a  court  determines  to  be  unnecessary   for   the   reasonable
requirements  of  the judgment debtor and his or her dependents. Nothing
in this subdivision shall alter the exempt status  of  funds  which  are
exempt  from  execution,  levy, attachment or garnishment, under section
fifty-two hundred five of this article or under any other  provision  of
state  or  federal  law, or the right of a judgment debtor to claim such
exemption.
(j) Fee for banking institution's costs in  processing  a  restraining
notice  for  an  account. In the event that a banking institution served

with a restraining notice cannot lawfully restrain a  judgment  debtor's
banking  institution  account,  or a restraint is placed on the judgment
debtor's account in violation  of  any  section  of  this  chapter,  the
banking   institution  shall  charge  no  fee  to  the  judgment  debtor
regardless of any terms of agreement, or  schedule  of  fees,  or  other
contract between the judgment debtor and the banking institution.
(k) The provisions of subdivisions (h), (i) and (j) of this section do
not  apply  when  the  state  of  New  York,  or  any of its agencies or
municipal corporations is the judgment creditor, or if the debt enforced
is for child support, spousal support, maintenance or alimony,  provided
that  the restraining notice contains a legend at the top thereof, above
the caption, in sixteen point bold type  with  the  following  language:
"The  judgment creditor is the state of New York, or any of its agencies
or municipal  corporations,  AND/OR  the  debt  enforced  is  for  child
support, spousal support, maintenance or alimony.".