Installment Payment Orders Under CPLR 5226: A Warner & Scheuerman Guide to Reaching a Debtor Who Has Income but No Employer
Wage garnishment assumes there is a payroll department somewhere to serve. A large share of New York judgment debtors do not fit that model: freelance consultants, 1099 delivery drivers, small business owners who take distributions instead of salary, landlords living on rent, and professionals who bill through their own single-member entity. For those debtors, the attorneys at Warner & Scheuerman turn to the installment payment order under CPLR 5226, an underused enforcement device that puts the payment obligation directly on the debtor and backs it with the court’s contempt power.
What is an installment payment order under CPLR 5226?
An installment payment order is a court order directing a judgment debtor to pay the judgment creditor a fixed amount out of income, on a recurring schedule, from income that is not otherwise subject to an income execution. It is issued on motion by the judgment creditor, not prepared by counsel and handed to a marshal the way a CPLR 5231 income execution is.
The statute reaches income “from any source,” which is broader than earnings from an employer. Courts have applied it to self-employment profits, partnership draws, professional fees, royalties, rental income, and payments from trusts. The order runs against the person, so there is no garnishee to serve and no employer to blame for noncompliance.
When is CPLR 5226 the right tool instead of a wage garnishment?
Use it when the debtor receives money regularly but no third party is holding it for them. The most common fact patterns are these.
- The debtor is self-employed or paid on 1099s by multiple payors, so no single garnishee holds enough to matter.
- The debtor owns the company that pays them and controls the timing and characterization of every dollar.
- Income arrives as rent, distributions, or draws rather than wages.
- An income execution was served and returned unsatisfied because the debtor left the job or was never on payroll.
A returned income execution is not a prerequisite. CPLR 5226 does not require the creditor to exhaust other remedies first, though a court weighing the motion tends to respond well to a record showing that ordinary enforcement was tried and failed.
How much can the court order the debtor to pay?
The statute directs the court to consider the reasonable requirements of the judgment debtor and any dependents, along with payments the debtor is required to make to other creditors. There is no fixed percentage cap written into CPLR 5226.
That absence of a statutory ceiling is the practical advantage over CPLR 5231, which limits withholding to 10% of gross income or 25% of disposable earnings, whichever is less. A court presented with credible evidence that a debtor nets substantial monthly income and lives modestly can order more than 10%. In practice, judges frequently anchor near the wage execution figure absent a reason to depart, so the creditor’s job is to build a record that justifies a higher number: bank statements showing discretionary spending, tax returns showing net profit, or a lifestyle plainly inconsistent with the poverty claimed at deposition.
What are the steps to obtain an installment payment order?
The order follows the special proceeding framework in CPLR Article 52, and the evidentiary groundwork matters more than the motion papers.
- Conduct post-judgment discovery first. Serve an information subpoena with restraining notice under CPLR 5224 and take a deposition of the judgment debtor to establish income sources and amounts.
- Obtain documents. Federal and state tax returns, 1099s, K-1s, profit and loss statements, and twelve months of bank statements give the court something concrete to work from.
- Move on notice to the judgment debtor under CPLR 5226. Personal service of the motion is the safer course, and the moving affidavit should identify the income stream, the amount, and the requested payment schedule.
- Submit a proposed order specifying the dollar amount, the payment interval, where payment is sent, and the duration.
- Serve the signed order on the debtor personally, which is what makes contempt available if payments stop.
What happens if the debtor ignores the order?
Nonpayment of an installment payment order is enforceable through contempt under CPLR 5251, which expressly makes refusal or willful neglect to obey an order under CPLR 5226 punishable as a contempt of court. Civil contempt proceedings run under Judiciary Law sections 753 and 773, and a fine measured by the creditor’s actual loss, plus costs and fees, is available. Where a debtor has the ability to pay and simply refuses, incarceration is on the table.
That exposure is the real leverage. A bank levy can come back empty and cost the creditor a poundage fee. An installment payment order creates a personal obligation the debtor must answer for in front of a judge, and it tends to produce settlement conversations that never happened during the underlying litigation.
Where CPLR 5226 has limits worth knowing
The order only reaches income the debtor actually receives. A business owner who stops taking distributions and lets earnings accumulate inside the entity may need to be pursued through a charging order, a receiver under CPLR 5228, or a turnover proceeding instead. Exempt income including Social Security, SSI, veterans benefits, and public assistance stays exempt, and a debtor whose entire income is exempt cannot be ordered to pay from it. The debtor may also move to modify the order if income drops, so the amount is not permanent.
Judgment debtors without employers are not judgment proof. They are simply harder to reach with the standard toolkit, and CPLR 5226 exists precisely for that gap. Warner & Scheuerman handles post-judgment enforcement for creditors in New York, including the discovery work that makes an installment payment order motion succeed. Contact the firm through wslaw.nyc to review what your judgment debtor is actually earning.
