Upon motion of the judgment creditor, upon notice to the judgment debtor, where it is shown that the judgment debtor is receiving or will receive money from any source, or is attempting to impede the judgment creditor by rendering services without adequate compensation, the court shall order that the judgment debtor make specified installment payments to the judgment creditor. Notice of the motion shall be served on the judgment debtor in the same manner as a summons or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. In fixing the amount of the payments, the court shall take into consideration the reasonable requirements of the judgment debtor and his dependents, any payments required to be made by him or deducted from the money he would otherwise receive in satisfaction of other judgments and wage assignments, the amount due on the judgment, and the amount being or to be received, or, if the judgment debtor is attempting to impede the judgment creditor by rendering services without adequate compensation, the reasonable value of the services rendered.
§ 5226.Installment payment order.
Article 52. Enforcement of Money Judgments · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceLets a court order a judgment debtor who is receiving or will receive money, or who is dodging collection by working for less than fair value, to make specified installment payments toward the judgment, sized to what the debtor can afford.
Full Text of CPLR 5226
Plain-English Summary
Not every debtor has a lump sum or a single asset a creditor can seize. CPLR 5226 gives the court a way to convert a debtor's income stream into a payment plan: on the creditor's motion, with notice to the debtor, the court orders installment payments where the debtor is or will be receiving money from any source, or is trying to dodge collection by taking pay below what the work is worth.
The amount is not left to guesswork. The court weighs what the debtor and dependents reasonably need, any other payments already required by other judgments or wage assignments, how much is owed on this judgment, and how much income is coming in, or, for a debtor working below value on purpose, what the services are worth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court order a judgment debtor to pay in installments?
Yes. CPLR 5226 lets the court set specified installment payments where the debtor is receiving or will receive money from any source.
What if a debtor works for less pay to avoid paying a judgment?
CPLR 5226 also applies where the debtor is impeding collection by rendering services without adequate compensation, letting the court order payments based on what those services are worth.
How does the court decide how much the debtor has to pay each installment?
It weighs the debtor's and dependents' reasonable needs, other payments already owed on other judgments or wage assignments, the amount due, and the debtor's actual or expected income.
Does the debtor get notice before an installment order is entered?
Yes. The creditor's motion must be served on the debtor in the same manner as a summons or by registered or certified mail.
Is an installment payment order the same as wage garnishment?
No. It is a separate court-ordered payment plan based on the debtor's overall financial circumstances, not an automatic deduction from a paycheck.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is based upon CPA § 793.
While garnishee execution pursuant to CPA § 684 afforded a relatively automatic procedure for reaching ten per cent of the income of certain judgment debtors, its disadvantages to judgment creditors, judgment debtors and employers were substantial. Since any fixed figure necessarily represents a compromise, it may be far from adequate where the judgment debtor’s income is large, and oppressive when his income is small. Although a statutory sliding scale would be an improvement over the former arrangement, it could not adequately allow for all of the factors which are material to a determination of a reasonable sum; flexibility in this area is essential. As one commentator observed, it must “be flexible enough to conform to each individual case. To be so comfortable it can scarcely be solidified in statutory form and still be satisfactory.” Woodbridge, Installment Payment of Judgments, 39 Mich L Rev 357, 364 (1941).
Certain of the disadvantages to judgment creditors of garnishee execution were eliminated by the adoption of § 793 which afforded a means for reaching income which could not be reached by execution, such as that derived from Federal employment, out-of-state employers, or from self-employment. Section 793 could also be utilized against ordinary income to obtain more than the ten per cent ceiling imposed by § 684. It enabled a second judgment creditor to obtain a portion of a judgment debtor’s income without awaiting the expiration of a prior garnishee execution. Under § 793, a judgment creditor could reach income without first having an execution returned unsatisfied and, since income was reached after it was in the judgment debtor’s hands, without filing a transcript of the judgment in the county in which the employer was located, or, indeed, in any county.
Thus, to some extent, § 793 filled the gaps left by the garnishee execution procedure of § 684. On the other hand, there was much overlap and the operation of those two independent methods for reaching income has created many problems. Thus, one judgment creditor might have sought and obtained an order under § 793 for a sum representing the most that a judgment debtor could reasonably afford to pay, without precluding another judgment creditor from obtaining an additional ten per cent of the judgment debtor’s income pursuant to a garnishee execution under § 684.
This section provides for a court determination, similar to that required by former § 793, of the amount of income to be applied to the satisfaction of the judgment. This procedure may entail a greater expenditure of court time than the fixed percentage of § 684 but courts, increasingly called upon to make determinations pursuant to § 793, were frequently reluctant to specify the maximum reasonable sum because there was no way of preventing another creditor from subsequently obtaining the fixed percentage of a garnishee execution. Furthermore, many installment orders are entered on consent with no expenditure of court time.
Amendment History
Formerly § 5225, add, L 1962, ch 308; renumbered § 5226, L 1962, ch 315, § 5, eff Sept 1, 1963.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: installment payment order New York judgmentpayment plan for judgment debtor New YorkCPLR 5226 court ordered paymentsjudgment debtor paying in installments