What enforcement means here
The phrase civil enforcement is used in more than one way. Government agencies bring civil enforcement actions seeking penalties or court orders, and that is a different kind of matter with its own defense. This page is about the other meaning: turning a money judgment into actual payment. Courts do not collect on your behalf. In New York the judgment creditor uses procedures in the civil practice rules, usually through an attorney and an enforcement officer such as a sheriff or, in New York City, a marshal. The judgment debtor rarely pays simply because the court has ruled, so the first job is finding what can be reached.
The usual tools
Information subpoenas and depositions can require the debtor, and sometimes banks or other third parties, to disclose accounts, employment, and property. A restraining notice can freeze funds held by a bank, although certain protected amounts and benefits are exempt. A property execution lets an enforcement officer levy on assets, and an income execution can reach a portion of wages. A judgment entered and docketed where the debtor owns real estate becomes a lien on that property, and the lien has to be renewed at set intervals. When assets have been moved to relatives or new companies to avoid payment, a separate proceeding may be needed to reach them.
Judgments from somewhere else
A judgment from another state usually has to be filed or domesticated in New York before local tools can be used, and New York has a streamlined procedure for many of those. A judgment from a foreign country goes through a recognition process instead, and the debtor may raise defenses at that stage. Arbitration awards generally need to be confirmed by a court before they can be enforced, and confirmation has its own deadline. When you bring us a judgment, we look at the document itself, what is known about the debtor's assets and location, and which tools fit, so effort goes where something can actually be collected.
