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NYC Marshal Services in Washington Heights
Washington Heights Landlords: The Warrant Is Just the Beginning
Hear from Our Customers
Eviction Marshal for Upper Manhattan
Most people assume that winning a court judgment — or finally receiving a Warrant of Eviction — means the hard part is over. It isn’t. The judgment gives you a legal right to collect. The warrant gives you the legal right to reclaim your property. But neither one puts money in your account or gets a non-paying tenant out of your building. That’s where we come in.
Washington Heights is a neighborhood where roughly 87% of households are renters. Pre-war five- and six-story apartment buildings line the blocks between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, most of them held by small private landlords who manage their own properties without in-house legal teams. When a nonpayment case finally reaches the execution stage, there’s no room for a procedural error. One misstep — wrong notice, wrong timing, wrong form — and you’re back at the beginning.
We’ve been handling executions in Washington Heights and across Manhattan since 1988. The process moves. The documentation is thorough. And every step is conducted with the professionalism that a neighborhood like Washington Heights demands — where tenant advocacy organizations are active, Community Board 12 watches closely, and how an eviction is handled matters as much as whether it gets done.
NYC Marshal Serving Washington Heights and Upper Manhattan
We are NYC Marshal Edward Guida #14, a mayoral-appointed public officer serving all five boroughs of New York City. Edward Guida Sr. founded our practice in 1988. Edward Jr. received his own mayoral appointment in 2016 and has continued the work with the same staff — including the office manager who worked under his father. That kind of continuity is rare in this field.
We’re based in Corona, Queens, and regularly handle cases throughout Manhattan, including Washington Heights and the surrounding Upper Manhattan neighborhoods. Whether the case originates from NYC Housing Court, Civil Court, or a Small Claims judgment, we’re authorized to enforce it — wage garnishments, bank levies, property executions, and full evictions alike.
As a mayor-appointed officer regulated by the NYC Department of Investigation and backed by a $100,000 public official’s bond, we aren’t a collection agency making phone calls. We’re court-authorized enforcement with legal powers that no private agency can match.
How NYC Marshal Enforcement Works
The starting point is always a court order. For landlords in Washington Heights, that means a Warrant of Eviction issued by NYC Housing Court. For judgment creditors — small business owners, individuals who won in Civil or Small Claims Court — it means a money judgment that’s been docketed and is ready to enforce. You can’t hire a marshal without one, and we can’t act without it.
Once you engage us, the next steps depend on what you need. For evictions, we serve a Marshal’s Notice on the tenant before any physical execution takes place. If a full eviction is required, we coordinate with a bonded moving company licensed by the New York State Department of Transportation, and we prepare a written inventory of all items in the premises.
For income execution, the process runs in two stages. The debtor receives the first notice and has the opportunity to make voluntary payments. If they don’t respond within the required timeframe, we serve the employer directly — triggering mandatory payroll deduction. For Washington Heights creditors pursuing debtors who work at NewYork-Presbyterian or Columbia University Irving Medical Center, that employer service goes to a large, organized institution that will comply. The garnishment happens. For property execution, we can reach bank accounts, business assets, and personal property — tools that a collection agency simply doesn’t have access to.
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Income Execution and Eviction Services, Washington Heights
We handle the full range of civil enforcement services across Washington Heights and every other borough. That includes Supreme Court and Civil Court judgment collection, income execution (wage garnishment), property execution including bank account levies, landlord and tenant eviction services, and Small Claims Court enforcement.
Washington Heights generates significant housing court activity. With thousands of pre-war rental units concentrated in a dense 1.6-square-mile area — and rents that have risen 27.5% in real terms since 2006 while incomes have lagged — nonpayment cases are a consistent reality for local landlords. When those cases finally reach the marshal execution stage after months of housing court proceedings, the last thing a landlord needs is an office that’s unfamiliar with Manhattan’s procedures or the specific dynamics of this neighborhood.
The Good Cause Eviction law signed in April 2024 added new procedural requirements for market-rate tenants in Washington Heights. Landlords who have successfully navigated those requirements and obtained a Warrant of Eviction have already done the hard legal work. Our job is to execute that warrant correctly — with proper notice, proper documentation, and the kind of professional conduct that holds up if challenged. That’s the standard we’ve maintained since 1988, and it applies to every case in Washington Heights, whether it’s a single-unit holdover or a multi-apartment building along Broadway.
What do I do after I receive a Warrant of Eviction in Washington Heights?
Once NYC Housing Court issues a Warrant of Eviction, you’re authorized to hire a marshal to execute it — but we have to follow a specific process before anyone is removed from the property. The first step is the Marshal’s Notice, which must be served on the tenant before any physical execution takes place. This gives the tenant formal notice that the eviction is coming and establishes the legal record that proper procedure was followed.
In Washington Heights, where tenant advocacy organizations are active and Community Board 12 has formally advocated for tenant protections, following this process to the letter is especially important. Any procedural gap — even a minor one — can be used to challenge or delay the execution. We make sure the notice is served correctly, the timing is right, and the documentation is solid from the start. From there, we schedule the execution and, if a full eviction is required, we coordinate with a bonded moving company licensed by the New York State Department of Transportation to remove belongings and prepare a written inventory of everything in the unit.
What is income execution and how does it work in New York City?
Income execution is the legal process of garnishing a debtor’s wages to satisfy a money judgment. In New York, the garnishment is capped at 10% of the debtor’s gross wages per paycheck — that’s set by state statute, not by us. The process runs in two stages. First, we serve the income execution on the debtor directly, giving them the opportunity to make voluntary payments. If the debtor doesn’t comply within the required timeframe, we move to Stage 2 and serve the employer — at which point the payroll deduction becomes mandatory.
For Washington Heights judgment creditors, this second stage is often where the real enforcement happens. If your debtor works at NewYork-Presbyterian or Columbia University Irving Medical Center — two of the largest employers in Upper Manhattan — their paycheck is coming from a large, organized institution with a payroll department that will process a properly served garnishment order. The key is making sure the income execution is served correctly and that Stage 2 is triggered without delay if the debtor ignores the first notice. That follow-through is what separates effective enforcement from a notice that sits unanswered.
Can a NYC Marshal help me collect on a Small Claims Court judgment?
Yes — and this is something a lot of Small Claims winners in Washington Heights don’t realize. Winning in Small Claims Court gives you a legal right to collect, but the court doesn’t collect for you. You have to enforce the judgment yourself, and the most effective way to do that is through a licensed NYC Marshal using either income execution or property execution.
Income execution targets the debtor’s wages. Property execution can reach bank accounts, cash, business inventory, and other personal property. For Washington Heights small business owners — bodegas, restaurants, service businesses along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue — who win Small Claims cases against customers or former business partners, property execution is often the faster path, especially if the debtor’s employment situation is unclear. We have legal authority to levy bank accounts and seize assets that no collection agency can touch. The statutory fee structure is set by New York State law, so you’re not negotiating rates — the process is transparent from the start.
What is the difference between a NYC Marshal and a private collection agency?
The difference is legal authority. A private collection agency can send letters, make calls, and negotiate — but that’s where their reach ends. They cannot garnish wages, freeze bank accounts, seize property, or execute a Warrant of Eviction. Those powers belong exclusively to court-authorized officers, and in New York City, that means the NYC Sheriff’s Office or a mayoral-appointed NYC Marshal.
We hold a mayoral appointment, are regulated by the NYC Department of Investigation, and are backed by a $100,000 public official’s bond. That appointment gives us legal enforcement authority that no collection agency — regardless of how long they’ve been in business or how many clients they have — can replicate. For Washington Heights landlords and creditors who have already been through the court process and have a judgment or warrant in hand, a marshal is the only option that can actually compel compliance. Collection agencies are for pre-judgment situations. Once you have a court order, you need an enforcement officer.
How long does a marshal eviction typically take in Washington Heights, NY?
The timeline depends on a few variables, but the process has defined steps that give you a reasonable sense of what to expect. After you engage us and provide the Warrant of Eviction, the Marshal’s Notice must be served on the tenant. From there, the execution is scheduled. For a full eviction requiring a bonded moving company, coordinating access to the building and scheduling the crew adds time — particularly in Washington Heights, where many buildings are pre-war walk-ups without freight elevators, which affects how the move-out is logistically handled.
It’s also worth knowing that the NYC Department of Investigation suspends evictions during severe weather events — this happens multiple times in a typical winter, and Washington Heights, sitting at the northern end of Manhattan near Bennett Park (the highest natural point in the borough), can see harsher conditions than lower Manhattan neighborhoods. Beyond weather, the overall timeline is driven by court scheduling, tenant response, and building access. What you can control is getting the paperwork to our office quickly and making sure the warrant is properly documented. We’ll handle the rest.
Can a NYC Marshal enforce a judgment against a debtor in a different borough?
Yes, and this matters a lot for Washington Heights creditors. Washington Heights sits at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, where I-95 and the Trans-Manhattan Expressway connect Manhattan to the Bronx and points beyond. A lot of people who live, work, or do business in Washington Heights have ties across multiple boroughs — and a debtor who owes you money might live in the Bronx, work in Queens, or bank in Brooklyn.
We hold a mayoral appointment that covers all five boroughs — Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. That means one office, one relationship, and no need to find a different marshal every time your debtor’s assets cross a borough line. Income execution follows the debtor’s employer. Property execution follows their bank accounts and assets. Wherever those are located within New York City, we’re authorized to act. For a neighborhood like Washington Heights, where the community’s economic and social ties stretch across borough lines daily, that five-borough reach isn’t a footnote — it’s a practical necessity.