Where an execution is issued upon a judgment entered against the defendant, the sheriff’s duty with respect to custody and disposition of property or debt levied upon pursuant to an order of attachment is the same as if he had levied upon it pursuant to the execution. The priority among two or more orders of attachment against the same defendant shall be in the order in which they were delivered to the officer who levied upon the property or debt. The priority between an order of attachment and an execution, or a payment, delivery or receivership order, is set forth in section 5234.
§ 6226.Disposition of attached property after execution issued; priority of orders of attachment.
Article 62. Attachment · Last amended 1963 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 6226 explains what happens to attached property once an execution issues on the judgment, converting the sheriff's role from custodian under the attachment to enforcer under the execution, and fixes priority among competing attachments.
Full Text of CPLR 6226
Plain-English Summary
An attachment secures property before judgment; an execution is what enforces the judgment once it exists. CPLR 6226 bridges the two. Once an execution issues against the defendant, the sheriff's duty regarding custody and disposition of property or debt already levied on under the attachment becomes the same as if the sheriff had levied on it under the execution itself, so the case moves from securing an asset to enforcing the judgment against it.
The section also settles competing claims to the same property. Where two or more orders of attachment reach the same defendant, priority runs by delivery date: whichever order reached the levying officer first outranks the others. And when an order of attachment competes with an execution, or with a payment, delivery, or receivership order, CPLR 6226 sends the priority question to CPLR 5234, the section that lays out priority rules among those enforcement devices generally.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to attached property once a judgment and execution are entered?
Under CPLR 6226, the sheriff's duty regarding custody and disposition of the attached property becomes the same as if the property had been levied on under the execution.
If two plaintiffs both attached the same defendant's property, who gets priority?
Priority runs by the order in which the attachment orders were delivered to the officer who levied on the property or debt.
Who has priority, an order of attachment or a later execution?
CPLR 6226 answers that question by pointing to CPLR 5234, which sets the priority rules between an order of attachment and an execution or a payment, delivery, or receivership order.
Does an attachment automatically become an execution once judgment is entered?
Not automatically; a separate execution still has to issue, but once it does, CPLR 6226 has the sheriff treat previously levied property the same as property levied under that execution.
Where do the priority rules for competing attachments and executions come from?
CPLR 6226 sets attachment-versus-attachment priority by delivery date directly, and cross-references CPLR 5234 for priority between an attachment and an execution or other enforcement order.
Advisory Committee Notes
This rule replaces CPA § 969, which is an extended reiteration of former § 645. The latter section appeared in that portion of the civil practice act relating to executions where the procedure was more appropriately dealt with. The last two sentences of this section clarify the priority of orders of attachment.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, 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: priority of attachments New Yorkattachment versus execution prioritydisposition of attached property after judgmentNew York attachment execution priority CPLR 5234