Post-judgment enforcement runs on the assumption that people obey court process. A meaningful number of judgment debtors do not, and creditors who treat an ignored information subpoena as a dead end are leaving the most effective remedy in Article 52 unused. Contempt puts the debtor in front of a judge, personally, with liberty on the table. The enforcement attorneys at Warner & Scheuerman find that the credible threat of a contempt application changes debtor behavior faster than any levy, because it converts an abstract judgment into a personal obligation with immediate consequences.
What does CPLR 5251 cover?
CPLR 5251 provides that refusal or willful neglect of any person to obey a subpoena or restraining notice issued under Article 52, or to obey an order under CPLR 5225 or 5226 or a turnover or delivery order, is punishable as a contempt of court.
The provision sweeps broadly. It reaches the judgment debtor and also third parties: banks that release restrained funds, employers that disregard an income execution, family members served with information subpoenas, and business entities that hold the debtor’s property. False swearing on an information subpoena response falls within it as well.
Note the language of willful neglect. A garnishee that fails to respond because the subpoena was misrouted through a corporate mailroom is in a different position from a debtor who received it personally and threw it away.
What is the difference between civil and criminal contempt?
Civil contempt is remedial and exists to compensate the aggrieved party or coerce compliance. Criminal contempt is punitive and vindicates the authority of the court.
Civil contempt runs under Judiciary Law section 753, which authorizes punishment where a party’s conduct defeats, impairs, impedes, or prejudices the rights or remedies of another party. Judiciary Law section 773 governs the fine: where actual loss or injury is shown, the fine is measured by that loss plus costs and expenses, which in enforcement cases typically includes the creditor’s attorney fees incurred in bringing the motion. Where no actual loss is proven, the fine is capped at $250 plus costs and expenses.
Criminal contempt under Judiciary Law section 750 carries a fine of up to $1,000, imprisonment of up to thirty days, or both. The two are not mutually exclusive, and creditors sometimes seek both in the alternative.
The evidentiary standard matters. Civil contempt in New York must be established by clear and convincing evidence, a standard the Court of Appeals confirmed in El-Dehdan v. El-Dehdan in 2015.
What must a creditor prove to hold a debtor in contempt?
Four elements, drawn from El-Dehdan and the cases applying it.
- A lawful order of the court, clearly expressing an unequivocal mandate, was in effect.
- The party charged had knowledge of the order, though actual service is not always required if knowledge is otherwise established.
- The party disobeyed the order.
- The disobedience prejudiced the rights of the moving party.
Willfulness is not an element of civil contempt, which distinguishes it from criminal contempt and makes the civil route substantially easier for creditors. The order itself must be clear, so vague or internally inconsistent turnover orders invite defenses that careful drafting avoids.
How does the Warner & Scheuerman approach build a contempt record?
By making service airtight before anything else. Contempt applications fail on service defects more often than on the merits.
An information subpoena under CPLR 5224 served on a judgment debtor may be served by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, with the response due within seven days of receipt. A subpoena requiring an appearance for a deposition under CPLR 5223 requires personal service in the manner of a summons. A restraining notice under CPLR 5222 served on the judgment debtor also requires personal service and remains effective for one year, with a possible extension by court order.
Keeping the affidavit of service, the certified mail receipt, the green card, and the tracking record together in the file is what makes the motion work later.
The procedure itself runs by motion or order to show cause. Judiciary Law section 756 requires that the application include a warning notice, prominently displayed, advising that failure to appear may result in immediate arrest and imprisonment for contempt. Omitting or burying that notice is a common defect. Personal service of the moving papers is the safer practice.
Where the respondent fails to appear on the return date, the court may issue a warrant of commitment or a civil arrest warrant directing a sheriff to bring the person before the court.
Can a debtor purge the contempt?
Yes. Civil contempt is coercive rather than punitive, so the order should specify what compliance looks like, whether that is answering the subpoena, appearing for a deposition, or turning over specific property. A debtor who complies purges the contempt and avoids the sanction.
That purge mechanism is exactly why the remedy produces results. Most debtors who have ignored months of paper answer within days once a judge sets a compliance deadline with a commitment order behind it.
Contempt is not a last resort to be threatened and never used. It is the enforcement mechanism the CPLR built to make the rest of Article 52 functional, and creditors who use it early establish that the file will be pursued. Warner & Scheuerman represents judgment creditors in New York post-judgment enforcement, including contempt applications against evasive debtors and noncompliant garnishees. Contact the firm through wslaw.nyc to discuss what your judgment debtor has been ignoring.
