Your Judgment Means Nothing Without Enforcement
You won in court. Now the hard part — actually collecting. If your debtor works for the City of New York, a state agency, or a government employer like the MTA or FDNY, you have more leverage than you think. We know exactly how to use it.
What Makes This Office Different
Appointed by the Mayor
Marshal Guida holds an official mayoral appointment and operates under DOI oversight — not a collection agency, a public officer of the NYC Civil Court.
Decades of Family Experience
Our office manager and staff trained under Marshal Guida’s father for years — that institutional knowledge transfers directly to your case.
All Five Boroughs Covered
One engagement covers the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island — no need to find a different marshal for each borough.
$100,000 Public Officer’s Bond
Every NYC Marshal is required to carry a $100,000 bond. It’s a legal guarantee of accountability that no collection agency can match.
Municipal Wage Garnishment NYC
Garnishing a Government Employee Is Simpler Than You Think
An income execution — what most people call wage garnishment — is one of the most direct ways to collect on a civil money judgment in New York. Once you have a judgment from any NYC court, whether Civil, Small Claims, Supreme, or Landlord and Tenant, we can execute it against the debtor’s paycheck.
When that debtor works for the City of New York, a state agency, the MTA, or another government employer, the process is actually more reliable than a private-sector garnishment. Government employers don’t go out of business. Their payroll runs on a fixed schedule. And when an income execution lands on their desk, they’re legally required to comply.
That’s the part most creditors don’t realize until they’re already in the process. We’ve been navigating it for decades.
Why Garnish a Government Employee
Government Jobs Make for Reliable Recovery
Unlike private-sector debtors, government employees have guaranteed paychecks, stable employment, and an institutional employer that must comply with every lawful income execution.
- The City of New York processes garnishments through OPA — a centralized payroll system that handles deductions reliably and on schedule.
- You stop chasing a debtor who ignores you — the deduction happens automatically from their paycheck until your judgment is satisfied.
- NYPD officers, FDNY firefighters, MTA workers, sanitation workers, and DOE employees rarely leave their jobs suddenly, so your execution stays intact.
- Judgment interest accrues at 9% per annum from the date of judgment — the longer a debtor waits, the more you ultimately recover.
- You have up to 20 years to enforce a money judgment in New York — even an older judgment against a city employee can still be executed.
- Our office handles the entire process — from docketing the execution to serving the debtor and employer — so you’re not managing any of it yourself.
NYC Marshal Government Garnishment Process
How the Income Execution Actually Works
Under CPLR § 5231 — the New York statute that governs income executions — wage garnishment in this state is capped at 10% of the debtor’s gross wages per paycheck. That’s more protective of debtors than federal law, which allows up to 25%. But for judgment creditors, 10% of a stable government salary adds up quickly and predictably.
The process has two stages. First, we serve the income execution on the judgment debtor directly, giving them a 20-day window to begin voluntary payments. Many government employees, once they realize enforcement is underway, choose to pay at this stage. If they don’t respond within 20 days, we serve their employer — OPA for City employees, or the relevant payroll office for state or quasi-governmental workers — and mandatory withholding begins.
From that point, the deductions come out of every paycheck until your judgment, plus interest and applicable fees, is fully satisfied. You don’t have to do anything else. We track it, follow up, and keep the process moving.
NYS Employee Income Execution NYC
Not Just City Workers — All Government Employers
When people think of government employee garnishment, they usually think of NYC agency workers — and with good reason. The City of New York employs hundreds of thousands of people across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, from the Department of Education and NYC Health + Hospitals to the Department of Sanitation and the Department of Correction. All of them are paid through OPA, which processes income executions through an established, compliant institutional system.
But our authority extends beyond City employees. If your debtor works for a New York State agency, the MTA, NYCTA, or another quasi-governmental employer operating within the five boroughs, we can execute against their wages as well. The employer may differ, but the legal framework — and our ability to enforce it — is the same.
If you’re not sure whether your debtor’s employer qualifies, call us. We’ll tell you exactly what’s possible before you commit to anything.
Garnish City Employee Wages NYC
Three Steps From Judgment to Payment
Submit Your Judgment
Provide us with your money judgment and the debtor’s employment information — we handle everything from there.
We Serve the Execution
We serve the income execution on the debtor first, then on their government employer if voluntary payment doesn’t follow within 20 days.
Deductions Begin Automatically
The employer withholds 10% of gross wages each pay period and remits it to our office until your judgment is fully satisfied.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a NYC marshal garnish wages from a City of New York employee?
Yes — and it’s one of the more straightforward income executions we handle. City of New York employees are paid through the NYC Office of Payroll Administration (OPA), which has a well-established process for receiving and processing income executions from City Marshals. When we serve OPA with a valid income execution, the City is legally required to withhold 10% of the employee’s gross salary each pay period and remit those funds to our office. There’s no negotiating, no delays from an unresponsive HR department, and no risk that the employer disappears. OPA processes it as a matter of routine. For judgment creditors across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island, a debtor with a City job is often the most collectible debtor they’ll encounter.
Does it matter which borough the government employee works or lives in?
No. As a mayoral-appointed NYC Marshal, our authority covers all five boroughs — the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Our office is based in Corona, Queens, but that has no bearing on where we can enforce. Whether your debtor works at a Manhattan agency headquarters near City Hall, a Brooklyn DOE school, a Bronx hospital, a Queens transit facility, or a Staten Island FDNY firehouse, we can serve the income execution and enforce the judgment. The court where your judgment was entered — whether that’s Brooklyn Civil Court on Livingston Street, Manhattan Civil Court at 111 Centre Street, Queens Civil Court in Jamaica, or any other — doesn’t limit where we can act either.
What percentage of a government employee’s wages can actually be garnished?
Under CPLR § 5231, income executions in New York are capped at 10% of the debtor’s gross wages. That applies to government employees the same as anyone else. So if your debtor is a sanitation worker earning $75,000 a year, roughly $144 per week would be withheld and applied to your judgment. It sounds modest, but it adds up — and it keeps adding up every pay period until the full judgment amount, plus 9% annual interest accrued from the date of judgment, plus applicable fees, is recovered. For creditors who’ve been waiting years to collect, the interest alone can be meaningful. And unlike chasing a private-sector debtor, this deduction happens automatically, on schedule, without fail.
What if the debtor works for the MTA or another quasi-government employer, not the City directly?
We can still execute against their wages. Our authority as a NYC Marshal extends to quasi-governmental employers like the MTA and NYCTA, which together employ tens of thousands of transit workers across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The income execution process follows the same legal framework under CPLR § 5231 — we serve the debtor, allow the 20-day voluntary payment window, and if that goes ignored, we serve the employer directly. The specific payroll office differs from OPA, but the legal obligation to comply is identical. If you’re unsure whether your debtor’s employer falls within our reach, reach out before you assume it doesn’t. More often than not, it does.
Can a collection agency handle this instead of a marshal?
Not for wage garnishment in New York City. Collection agencies are not authorized to execute income executions in the five boroughs — that authority belongs exclusively to NYC Marshals and the NYC Sheriff. A collection agency can attempt to contact a debtor and request voluntary payment, but they cannot compel an employer to withhold wages. Only a marshal or sheriff can do that. If you’ve already been working with a collection agency and hitting walls, that’s likely part of the reason. An income execution through our office puts the enforcement mechanism directly in place — the employer withholds the money from every paycheck, and it comes to you without requiring the debtor’s cooperation at all.
How long does a judgment stay enforceable in New York, and is it too late to act on an old judgment?
In New York, a money judgment remains enforceable for 20 years from the date it was entered. So if you have a judgment from several years ago against someone who now works for a city agency, a state employer, or the MTA anywhere in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, or Staten Island, it’s almost certainly not too late to act. In fact, older judgments can be more valuable than people realize — interest accrues at 9% per annum from the date of judgment, recomputed daily, and that interest is included in the total amount we collect through the income execution. The longer the debtor has waited, the more they owe. If you have an outstanding judgment and you know the debtor is employed by a government employer, call us. We’ll tell you exactly what we can do with it.
Call us at (718) 779-2134 or email us at guidajr@nycmarshal14.com to see how we can help you.