Contact us today at (718) 779-2134 to see how we can help you!
NYC Marshal Services in Harlem, NY
Harlem Evictions Are Up 69% — Here's What That Means for Your Property
Hear from Our Customers
Eviction Marshal and Judgment Enforcement Harlem
Winning a judgment doesn’t mean the money shows up. It means you’ve earned the legal right to collect — and that’s where we come in. Whether you’re a landlord in Central Harlem waiting to recover possession of your building, or a small business owner on 125th Street who won a civil judgment and hasn’t seen a dime, the process doesn’t move on its own. You need someone with the legal authority to make it move.
Harlem is one of the three highest-concentration eviction zones in the entire city, according to the NYC Comptroller. By February 2024, marshal-executed evictions in Harlem had already risen 69% compared to the same period the year before. That’s not just a statistic — it means housing court is busy, backlogs are real, and the difference between recovering your property in weeks versus months often comes down to how fast your marshal moves.
For the individual landlord who owns a walk-up on Frederick Douglass Boulevard or a brownstone in Hamilton Heights, lost rent at today’s rates — averaging around $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom — adds up fast. The sooner enforcement begins, the sooner you stop absorbing that loss. That’s the practical outcome of working with a marshal who takes the process seriously from day one.
NYC Marshal Serving Upper Manhattan
NYC Marshal Edward Guida #14 was appointed by the Mayor of New York City in 2016 and is authorized to enforce court orders across all five boroughs, including every corner of Manhattan — Central Harlem, East Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville, and beyond. But our office didn’t start in 2016. Edward F. Guida Sr. founded this practice in 1988, and the office manager and staff who worked under him are still here. That kind of continuity is rare in this field.
Being a NYC Marshal means something specific. We’re not a collection agency. We’re not a law firm. We’re a court-authorized public officer — appointed by the mayor, regulated by the NYC Department of Investigation, and backed by a $100,000 public official’s bond. That legal authority is what allows us to do things private collectors simply cannot: execute wage garnishments, levy bank accounts, and carry out warrants of eviction.
If you’ve won a judgment at the Harlem Community Justice Center on East 121st Street, or you’ve received a Warrant of Eviction from housing court, we’re equipped to take it from there.
How NYC Marshal Enforcement Works in Harlem
The process starts when you contact our office with your court order. That might be a Warrant of Eviction issued by NYC Housing Court, a civil judgment from Manhattan Supreme Court, or a small claims judgment from the Harlem Community Justice Center. From there, we review what you have and determine the right enforcement tool for your situation.
For evictions, we serve a formal notice before scheduling execution. Once the warrant is active and the notice period has passed, we execute the eviction — either as a Legal Possession, which returns control of the premises to you without a full move-out, or as a full eviction, which involves a licensed moving company and a written inventory of all items on the premises. One thing worth knowing: evictions in NYC are subject to suspension during severe winter weather by the NYC Department of Investigation, which can affect scheduling. That’s been a real factor in Harlem, where winter eviction backlogs have been documented in recent years. Staying in communication with your marshal during those windows matters.
For judgment collection, we handle both income execution and property execution. Income execution is a two-stage process — the debtor is served first and given the opportunity to pay voluntarily, and if they don’t respond within the required period, we serve the employer directly, triggering mandatory payroll deduction. Property execution covers physical assets as well as bank account restraints and levies, which can reach debtors who don’t have a traditional employer. We manage both stages and follow up to make sure garnishments are actually processed and remitted to you.
Ready to get started?
NYC Marshal Services for Harlem Landlords and Creditors
Harlem’s housing stock is one of the most legally complex in the city. You’ve got large NYCHA developments, dense concentrations of rent-stabilized pre-war brownstones, and a rapidly growing market-rate rental sector — all in the same neighborhood, all governed by different rules. The Good Cause Eviction law, which took effect in April 2024, added new procedural requirements for holdover evictions in market-rate units. That matters in a neighborhood like Harlem, where the share of market-rate housing has grown significantly as rent-stabilized units have been deregulated over time.
We handle the full range of civil enforcement services: Supreme and Civil Court judgment collection, property execution including bank account levies, income execution and wage garnishment, landlord and tenant evictions, and small claims court enforcement. If you won in small claims at the Harlem Community Justice Center and left with a judgment but no payment, that judgment is enforceable — and we can execute it via property execution or income execution across all five boroughs.
Marshal fees are set by New York State statute, not by us. The standard poundage on collected judgments is 5% — meaning our financial interest is directly aligned with yours. There are no arbitrary upfront fees layered on top of what you’ve already spent in court. We’re open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM, and reachable at (718) 779-2134.
How do I hire a NYC Marshal to enforce an eviction in Harlem?
Once you have a Warrant of Eviction issued by NYC Housing Court, you can contact our office directly. You’ll provide a copy of the warrant along with any relevant case information, and we’ll walk you through what happens next. We cannot act without the warrant — no marshal in New York City can. The court order is the legal trigger for everything that follows.
From there, we serve a formal notice to the tenant before scheduling the execution. For Harlem landlords specifically, it’s worth knowing that eviction scheduling can be affected by winter weather suspensions issued by the NYC Department of Investigation — these have caused delays in Harlem’s already-elevated eviction queue in recent years. Staying in contact with our office during those periods helps you stay on top of where your case stands and when execution is likely to be scheduled.
What is the difference between a NYC Marshal and a collection agency?
A NYC Marshal is a court-authorized public officer appointed by the Mayor of New York City. A collection agency is a private business. That distinction matters more than most people realize, because the legal tools available to each are completely different.
We can execute wage garnishments directly against an employer, levy and freeze bank accounts, seize personal property and business assets, and carry out warrants of eviction — all under the authority of a court order. A private collection agency can send letters and make calls, but it cannot do any of those things without going back to court. If you’ve already won your judgment and you need it enforced — not negotiated — a marshal is the mechanism the legal system built for that purpose. NYC Marshal Edward Guida #14 is regulated by the NYC Department of Investigation and backed by a $100,000 public official’s bond, which is a level of accountability no private collection agency is required to carry.
I won a small claims judgment in Harlem — can a marshal help me collect?
Yes. Small claims court judgments are fully enforceable through a NYC Marshal. If you won your case at the Harlem Community Justice Center on East 121st Street, you left with a legal right to collect — but the court doesn’t collect for you. We can enforce that judgment using property execution, which can include levying the debtor’s bank accounts or seizing personal property, or income execution, which garnishes wages directly from the debtor’s employer.
Many small claims winners don’t realize this option exists. They assume the judgment is the finish line, when it’s actually the starting point for enforcement. The process is accessible to individuals, not just attorneys — and we can explain each step in plain language so you know exactly what to expect. We serve all five boroughs, so whether the debtor lives or works elsewhere in Manhattan or in another borough, enforcement can follow them.
What is income execution, and how does wage garnishment work in New York?
Income execution is a two-stage legal process that allows a judgment creditor to collect from a debtor’s wages. In the first stage, we serve the income execution on the debtor directly, giving them the opportunity to make voluntary payments of up to 10% of their gross income. If the debtor doesn’t respond or comply within the required timeframe, the process moves to the second stage automatically.
In the second stage, we serve the debtor’s employer directly. At that point, the employer is legally required to withhold a portion of each paycheck and forward it to us, and we then remit the funds to you after retaining the authorized statutory fees. The garnishment amount is capped at 10% of the debtor’s gross wages per paycheck under New York law. It’s worth noting that certain income is exempt from execution — Social Security, disability benefits, veterans’ benefits, and active military pay cannot be garnished. If the debtor doesn’t have a traditional employer, property execution and bank account levies may be the more effective path, and we can help you assess which approach fits your situation.
How long does a marshal eviction take in Harlem, NY?
The honest answer is that timing depends on several factors, and Harlem’s current eviction environment adds some context worth understanding. As of early 2024, marshal-executed evictions in Harlem were running 69% higher year-over-year — which means housing court is processing a significant backlog, and scheduling demand is high.
Once you have your Warrant of Eviction and we’ve been engaged, we serve a formal notice to the tenant before execution can take place. After the notice period, the eviction is scheduled. The total timeline from engaging us to execution depends on court processing, notice requirements, and whether any weather suspensions are in effect — the NYC Department of Investigation suspends evictions during severe winter weather, which has been a real scheduling factor in Harlem during recent winters. What you can do on your end is make sure your paperwork is in order before you call, so there’s no delay on the intake side. Our office at (718) 779-2134 can give you a realistic picture of current scheduling once we’ve reviewed your warrant.
Does a NYC Marshal handle evictions differently in rent-stabilized Harlem buildings?
Our role in an eviction is to execute the Warrant of Eviction once it’s been issued by the court — we don’t determine whether the eviction is legally valid or whether the building is rent-stabilized. That legal determination happens in housing court before the warrant is ever issued. By the time we’re involved, the court has already ruled.
That said, Harlem’s housing stock makes this question particularly relevant. Central Harlem alone has over 1,600 buildings with rent-stabilized units, and the legal process for obtaining a warrant in those buildings involves specific procedural requirements that are handled at the court level. The Good Cause Eviction law, effective April 2024, has also added new layers to holdover eviction proceedings in market-rate units — which are an increasingly significant part of Harlem’s rental landscape as gentrification has accelerated along corridors like Frederick Douglass Boulevard and in neighborhoods like Hamilton Heights and Manhattanville. If you’re unsure whether your case is ready for marshal enforcement, your housing attorney can confirm that the warrant is properly issued and that all pre-execution requirements have been met before we’re engaged.