CPLR 5225(a) provides that a judgment creditor may make a motion in a pending action where a judgment was entered "where it is shown that the judgment debtor is in the possession or custody of money or other personal property in which he has an interest." CPLR 5225(a) also provides that the court shall order the judgment debtor to "pay the money, or so much of it as is sufficient to satisfy the judgment, to the judgment creditor." By contrast, CPLR 5225(b) provides that when the property sought is not in the possession of the judgment debtor, the judgment creditor is to commence a separate special proceeding "against a person in possession or custody of money or other personal property in which the judgment debtor has an interest . . . where it is shown that the judgment debtor is entitled to the possession of such property or that the judgment creditor's rights to the property are superior to those of the transferee." The most significant difference between the subdivisions is that CPLR 5225(a) is invoked by a motion made by the judgment creditor, whereas CPLR 5225(b) requires a special proceeding brought by the judgment creditor against the garnishee. There is this procedural distinction because the garnishee, not being a party to the main action, has to be independently subjected to the court's jurisdiction.
The plain terms of the relevant CPLR provisions are dispositive. CPLR 5201 provides that "[a] money judgment may be enforced against any property which could be assigned or transferred, whether it consists of a present or future right or interest and whether or not it is vested" However, when a judgment debtor's property is physically held by a third party, the applicable provision is CPLR 5225(b), and a special proceeding is required. It is only when the property is held by the judgment debtor himself that the judgment creditor may proceed by motion pursuant to CPLR 5225(a).
AC Penguin Prestige Corp. v. Two Thousand Fifteen Artisanal LLC, NY Slip Op 06536 (1st Dep't December 24, 2024)
