(a) Beginning on April first, two thousand twelve, and at each three-year interval ending on April first thereafter, the dollar amount of the exemption provided in sections fifty-two hundred five and fifty-two hundred six of this article and sections two hundred eighty-two and two hundred eighty-three of the debtor and creditor law shall be adjusted as provided in subdivision (b) of this section.
§ 5253.Cost of living adjustment for personal and real property exempt from application to the satisfaction of money judgments and exemptions in bankruptcy
Article 52. Enforcement of Money Judgments · Last amended 2011 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 5253 requires the state's superintendent of financial services to recalculate, every three years starting in 2012, the dollar amounts of New York's personal-property and homestead exemptions from money judgments, along with the parallel bankruptcy exemptions, using the regional consumer price index.
Full Text of CPLR 5253
(b) The superintendent of financial services shall determine the amount of the adjustment based on the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-CT-PA, published by the U.S. department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, for the most recent three-year period ending on December thirty-first preceding the adjustment, with each adjusted amount rounded to the nearest twenty-five dollars.
(c) Beginning on April first, two thousand twelve, and at each three-year interval ending on April first thereafter, the superintendent of financial services shall publish the current dollar amount of the applicable exemption provided in this article, together with the date of the next scheduled adjustment. The publication shall be substantially in the form set forth below:
“Current dollar amount of exemption from application to the satisfaction of money judgments under New York civil practice law and rules sections 5205 and 5206 and exemptions in bankruptcy under debtor and creditor law sections 282 and 283:
The following is the current dollar amount of exemptions from the satisfaction of money judgments under civil practice law and rules sections 5205 and 5206 and under debtor and creditor law sections 282 and 283:
(amount) This amount is effective on April 1, (year) and shall not apply to cases commenced before April 1, (year). The next adjustment is scheduled for April 1, (year). Such adjustments shall not apply with respect to restraining notices served or executions effected before the date of the adjustment. Nothing in this section limits the judgment debtor’s exemption rights in this section or under any other law.”
Plain-English Summary
The dollar figures that shield a debtor's property from a money judgment, set in CPLR 5205 and 5206, and the matching bankruptcy exemptions in Debtor and Creditor Law sections 282 and 283, don't stay useful if inflation quietly erodes them year after year. CPLR 5253 builds in an automatic fix. Starting April 1, 2012, and every three years after that, the superintendent of financial services recalculates those exemption amounts based on the change in the consumer price index for the New York metropolitan region over the preceding three years, rounding each adjusted figure to the nearest twenty-five dollars.
Subdivision (c) requires the superintendent to publish the newly adjusted amounts at each three-year interval, along with the date of the next scheduled adjustment, in a set form that states the current exemption figures and specifies when they take effect. The published amounts apply prospectively, not to cases commenced before the adjustment date, and they don't reach back to restraining notices already served or executions already carried out before the change. The section closes by making clear that none of this limits whatever exemption rights a debtor otherwise has under this section or any other law.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often do New York's judgment exemption amounts change?
Every three years, on a schedule starting April 1, 2012, when the superintendent of financial services recalculates the exemption figures under CPLR 5205 and 5206, along with the parallel bankruptcy exemptions, using the change in the regional consumer price index.
Who sets the updated exemption amounts under CPLR 5253?
The superintendent of financial services, who calculates the adjustment based on the consumer price index for the New York metropolitan region and rounds each new figure to the nearest twenty-five dollars.
Does a CPLR 5253 adjustment apply retroactively to executions already in progress?
No. The adjusted amounts apply going forward and don't reach cases commenced before the adjustment date, nor do they apply to restraining notices already served or executions already carried out before the new figures take effect.
Where can I find the current exempt dollar amounts under New York law?
The superintendent of financial services publishes the current figures at each three-year adjustment, along with the date of the next scheduled adjustment, in the form set out in subdivision (c) of CPLR 5253.
Does CPLR 5253 replace or limit other exemption protections a debtor has?
No. The section closes by stating that nothing in it limits whatever exemption rights a debtor otherwise has under CPLR 5205 and 5206 or any other law; it only supplies the mechanism for adjusting the dollar figures.
Amendment History
Add, L 2010, ch 568, § 6, eff Jan 21, 2011; amd, L 2011, ch 62, § 104 (Part A), eff Oct 3, 2011.
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: New York judgment exemption cost of living adjustmentcurrent exemption amount for judgments in New YorkCPLR 5205 5206 exemption updatehow much property is exempt from a judgment in New York