Any debt or property against which a money judgment may be enforced as provided in section 5201 is subject to attachment. The proper garnishee of any such property or debt is the person designated in section 5201; for the purpose of applying the provisions to attachment, references to a “judgment debtor” in section 5201 and in subdivision (i) of section 105 shall be construed to mean “defendant.”
§ 6202.Debt or property subject to attachment; proper garnishee.
Article 62. Attachment · Last amended 1977 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 6202 defines what property and debts a court can attach, the same property reachable to enforce a judgment under CPLR 5201, and identifies the proper garnishee by borrowing that same section's rules.
Full Text of CPLR 6202
Plain-English Summary
Attachment is not a separate inventory of property; it borrows its scope from post-judgment enforcement. CPLR 6202 makes any debt or property that CPLR 5201 allows a judgment creditor to reach subject to attachment before judgment as well. If a creditor could eventually levy on it to satisfy a money judgment, a plaintiff can tie it up earlier through an order of attachment.
The section also identifies who holds that property or owes that debt for purposes of the levy. The proper garnishee is the same person CPLR 5201 designates, whether a bank holding an account, an employer owing wages, or anyone else in possession of the defendant's assets. Because 5201 and CPLR 105(i) speak in terms of a "judgment debtor," CPLR 6202 directs that those references be read as "defendant" instead when applied to an attachment, since no judgment exists yet at this stage of the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What property can be attached under CPLR 6202?
Any debt or property that CPLR 5201 makes reachable to enforce a money judgment, from bank accounts to debts owed to the defendant, qualifies for attachment before judgment as well.
Who is the proper garnishee in a New York attachment?
The same person CPLR 5201 designates for post-judgment enforcement, such as a bank or an employer holding property or owing a debt to the defendant.
Why does CPLR 6202 talk about a judgment debtor if there is no judgment yet?
Can wages be attached before judgment in New York?
Only to the extent CPLR 5201 would let a judgment creditor reach them after judgment, since CPLR 6202 ties attachment to that same scope of property.
Does CPLR 6202 create its own list of attachable property?
No. It cross-references CPLR 5201 rather than listing property independently, so the two sections rise and fall together.
Advisory Committee Notes
The first sentence of this section is in accord with the first paragraph of former § 912. The phrase in the latter section “unless by law specifically made subject to attachment notwithstanding such exemption [from execution],” has been deleted. The phrase was intended to cover debts and causes of action, which could be attached under subds 3 and 4 of former § 916, but could not be levied upon by virtue of an execution at the time the phrase was included in former § 912. For a history of this phrase and the attempts to clarify its meaning, see 7 NY Jud Council Rep 428–29 (1941). The phrase has been unnecessary since 1952, however, when debts and causes of action were made subject to execution. Laws 1952, c 835; see Carmody, New York Practice 899–900 (7th ed, Forkosch 1956); Law Rev Comm’n Rep 373–395 (1952). Because of the deletion of the phrase quoted above, a vendee’s interest in a contract for the purchase of real estate could not be attached under this section (compare CPA § 513, with id. § 913; cf. Higgins v McConnell, 130 NY 482, 29 NE 978 (1892)) were it not for the fact that the former exemption from execution of such an interest has also been deleted by proposed article 52. See introduction to article 52.
The remaining provisions of this section save repetition of the complex rules which serve to determine not only which property may be levied upon, but how the levy is made. This section also creates a desirable uniformity which did not formerly exist between attachment and enforcement.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308; amd, L 1977, ch 860, § 2, eff Sept 1, 1977.
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: what property can be attached New Yorkproper garnishee CPLRattachable property New York judgmentNew York attachment debt or property