Initiating a Lawsuit

• To seek a judgment in New York State, a creditor must file a statement of claim with the county clerk's office in which the debtor resides. When the claim is filed, the clerk will schedule a court hearing and serve the debtor with a summons and complaint notifying them of the pending court date. For cases filed in New York City, the debtor has 20 days to respond to the summons. The debtor has 30 days to respond for cases filed outside the city. As of publication, the cost for a creditor to file a small claims case was $15 for amounts less than $1,000. The fee was $20 for cases involving claims over $1,000. The court also charges a $45 fee for issuing a summons to the debtor.
  
  

Judgment and Execution

• At the court hearing, both creditor and debtor have an opportunity to prove your respective cases. If the creditor fails to appear, the case is dismissed. If the debtor fails to appear, the court will hear the creditor's evidence and determine if it is sufficient to warrant a judgment. If a judgment is granted, the creditor must file a separate income execution notice to garnish wages. A city marshal or sheriff's deputy must serve the debtor with a copy of the notice within 20 days. The debtor then has 20 days to object to the garnishment or file an exemption claim. A creditor can expect to pay approximately $45 to $105 plus a mileage fee to the sheriff or marshal responsible for executing the order.
  
  

Calculating Garnishment Amount

• New York State sets guidelines for determining how much of a debtor's wages to garnish. State law permits creditors to garnish the lesser of 10 percent of a debtor's gross weekly income or 25 percent of weekly net income for all garnishments. Debtors' wages cannot be garnished if their weekly net incomes do not exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. If wages are garnished for domestic support payments and the garnishment is equal to than 25 percent of net income, New York does not enforce any additional garnishments.
  
  

Considerations

• New York law does not permit employers to fire debtors in the event of a single garnishment order. This protection no longer applies if the debtor receives multiple garnishment orders from different creditors, however. State law also protects certain types of income from garnishment. These include public assistance benefits, Social Security benefits, federal disability benefits, Supplemental Security Income, public and private pensions, qualified retirement accounts, veterans' benefits, alimony or child support paid, unemployment insurance and worker's compensation.