§ 5232. Levy upon personal property. (a) Levy by service of execution.
The sheriff or support collection unit designated by the appropriate
social services district shall levy upon any interest of the judgment
debtor or obligor in personal property not capable of delivery, or upon
any debt owed to the judgment debtor or obligor, by serving a copy of
the execution upon the garnishee, in the same manner as a summons,
except that such service shall not be made by delivery to a person
authorized to receive service of summons solely by a designation filed
pursuant to a provision of law other than rule 318. In the event the
garnishee is the state of New York, such levy shall be made in the same
manner as an income execution pursuant to section 5231 of this article.
A levy by service of the execution is effective only if, at the time of
service, the person served owes a debt to the judgment debtor or obligor
or he or she is in the possession or custody of property not capable of
delivery in which he or she knows or has reason to believe the judgment
debtor or obligor has an interest, or if the judgment creditor or
support collection unit has stated in a notice which shall be served
with the execution that a specified debt is owed by the person served to
the judgment debtor or obligor or that the judgment debtor or obligor
has an interest in specified property not capable of delivery in the
possession or custody of the person served. All property not capable of
delivery in which the judgment debtor or obligor is known or believed to
have an interest then in or thereafter coming into the possession or
custody of such a person, including any specified in the notice, and all
debts of such a person, including any specified in the notice, then due
or thereafter coming due to the judgment debtor or obligor, shall be
subject to the levy. The person served with the execution shall
forthwith transfer all such property, and pay all such debts upon
maturity, to the sheriff or to the support collection unit and execute
any document necessary to effect the transfer or payment. After such
transfer or payment, property coming into the possession or custody of
the garnishee, or debt incurred by him, or her shall not be subject to
the levy. Until such transfer or payment is made, or until the
expiration of ninety days after the service of the execution upon him or
her, or of such further time as is provided by any order of the court
served upon him or her, whichever event first occurs, the garnishee is
forbidden to make or suffer any sale, assignment or transfer of, or any
interference with, any such property, or pay over or otherwise dispose
of any such debt, to any person other than the sheriff or the support
collection unit, except upon direction of the sheriff or the support
collection unit or pursuant to an order of the court. At the expiration
of ninety days after a levy is made by service of the execution, or of
such further time as the court, upon motion of the judgment creditor or
support collection unit has provided, the levy shall be void except as
to property or debts which have been transferred or paid to the sheriff
or to the support collection unit or as to which a proceeding under
sections 5225 or 5227 has been brought. A judgment creditor who, or
support collection unit which, has specified personal property or debt
to be levied upon in a notice served with an execution shall be liable
to the owner of the property or the person to whom the debt is owed, if
other than the judgment debtor or obligor, for any damages sustained by
reason of the levy.

(b) Levy by seizure. The sheriff or support collection unit of the
appropriate social services district shall levy upon any interest of the
judgment debtor in personal property capable of delivery by taking the
property into custody without interfering with the lawful possession of
pledgees and lessees. The sheriff or support collection unit shall
forthwith serve a copy of the execution in the manner prescribed by
subdivision (a) upon the person from whose possession or custody the
property was taken.

(c) Notice to judgment debtor or obligor. Where an execution does not
state that a notice in the form presented by subdivision (e) of section
fifty-two hundred twenty-two of this chapter has been duly served upon
the judgment debtor or obligor within a year, the sheriff or support
collection unit shall, not later than four days after service of the
execution upon any garnishee, mail by first class mail, or personally
deliver, to each judgment debtor or obligor who is a natural person, a
copy of the execution together with such notice. The sheriff or support
collection unit shall specify on the notice to judgment debtor or
obligor the name and address of the judgment creditor or the judgment
creditor's attorney or the support collection unit. The notice shall be
mailed to the judgment debtor or obligor at his or her residence
address; and in the event such mailing is returned as undeliverable by
the post office, or if the residence address of the judgment debtor or
obligor is unknown, then to the judgment debtor or obligor in care of
the place of employment of the judgment debtor or obligor if known, in
an envelope bearing the legend "personal and confidential" and not
indicating on the outside thereof, by the return address or otherwise,
that the communication is from a sheriff or support collection unit or
concerns a debt; or if neither the residence nor the place of employment
of the judgment debtor or obligor is known, then to the judgment debtor
or obligor at any other known address.

(d) For the purposes of this section "obligor" shall mean an
individual other than a judgment debtor obligated to pay support,
alimony or maintenance pursuant to an order of a court of competent
jurisdiction who has been found to be in "default" of such order as such
term is defined in paragraph seven of subdivision (a) of section
fifty-two hundred forty-one of this article and the establishment of
such default has been subject to the procedures established for the
determination of a "mistake of fact" for income executions pursuant to
subdivision (e) of section fifty-two hundred forty-one of this article,
except that for the purposes of this section only, a default shall not
be founded upon retroactive child support obligations as defined in
paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section four hundred forty and
subdivision one of section two hundred forty, and paragraph b of
subdivision nine of section two hundred thirty-six of the domestic
relations law.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section,
if direct deposit or electronic payments reasonably identifiable as
statutorily exempt payments as defined in paragraph two of subdivision
(l) of section fifty-two hundred five of this article were made to the
judgment debtor's account during the forty-five day period preceding the
date that the execution notice was served on the garnishee banking
institution, then a garnishee banking institution shall not execute,
levy, attach, garnish or otherwise restrain or encumber two thousand
five hundred dollars in the judgment debtor's account. Notwithstanding
the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section, an execution shall
not apply to an amount equal to or less than the greater of two hundred
forty times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed in the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 or two hundred forty times the state minimum
hourly wage prescribed in section six hundred fifty-two of the labor law
as in effect at the time the earnings are payable (as published on the
websites of the United States department of labor and the state
department of labor) except such part thereof as a court determines to
be unnecessary for the reasonable requirements of the judgment debtor
and his or her dependents. This amount shall be equal to seventeen
hundred sixteen dollars on the effective date of this subdivision, and
shall rise to seventeen hundred forty dollars on July twenty-fourth, two
thousand nine, and shall rise thereafter in tandem with the minimum
wage. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to limit a banking
institution's right or obligation to restrain, remove or execute upon
such funds from the judgment debtor's account if required by 42 U.S.C. §
659 or 38 U.S.C. § 5301 or to enforce a child support, spousal support,
alimony or maintenance obligation or by a court order. Nothing in this
subdivision shall alter the exempt status of funds that are protected
from execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process,
under section fifty-two hundred five of this article or under any other
provision of state or federal law, or affect the right of a judgment
debtor to claim such exemption.

(f) Fee for banking institution's costs in processing a levy by
service of execution when account contains only exempt, direct deposit
or electronic payments. In the event that a banking institution cannot
lawfully garnish or execute upon on a judgment debtor's banking
institution account or funds are garnished or executed upon in violation
of any section of this chapter, the banking institution shall charge no
fee to the judgment debtor regardless of any terms of agreement, or
schedule of fees, or other contract between the judgment debtor and the
banking institution.

(g) Where a levy by execution pursuant to this section is made against
a natural person's account at a banking institution, the sheriff or
support collection unit shall serve the banking institution with the
exemption notice and two exemption claim forms prescribed in subdivision
(b) of section fifty-two hundred twenty-two-a of this article. The
notice and forms must be served upon the banking institution
simultaneously with the execution and section fifty-two hundred
twenty-two-a of this article shall apply, and all procedures stated
therein must be followed. The banking institution shall not transfer the
funds in the account to the sheriff or support collection unit for at
least twenty-seven days. If, after thirty days, the banking institution
has not received an exemption claim form from the judgment debtor, or a
court order directing otherwise, it may thereafter transfer the funds to
the sheriff or support collection unit.

(h) The provisions of subdivisions (e), (f) and (g) of this section do
not apply when the state of New York, or any of its agencies or
municipal corporations is the judgment creditor, or if the debt enforced
is for child support, spousal support, maintenance or alimony provided
that in those instances the execution contains a legend at the top
thereof, above the caption, in sixteen point bold type with the
following language: "The judgment creditor is the state of New York, or
any of its agencies or municipal corporations, AND/OR the debt enforced
is for child support, spousal support, maintenance or alimony."