You have seven days to answer an information subpoena.

An information subpoena is post-judgment disclosure under CPLR article 52, not discovery in a pending lawsuit. Under CPLR 5224 the answers must be sworn, must answer each question separately and fully, and must be returned with the original questions within seven days after receipt. Non-compliance is enforced by court order, then contempt.

Is an information subpoena the same as the discovery subpoena I got during the lawsuit?

No. A discovery subpoena during a lawsuit seeks proof about the claims and defenses. An information subpoena under CPLR 5224 comes after a money judgment has been entered, and its only purpose is collection. The governing rules sit in article 52 of the CPLR, which deals with enforcement of money judgments.

The practical difference is the test. In a pending case, disclosure is measured against the prosecution or defense of the action. After judgment, the measure is relevance to the satisfaction of the judgment, a standard courts treat as broad.

The second difference is timing. Disclosure may be compelled at any time before the judgment is satisfied or vacated. No note of issue, no discovery cutoff, no trial date ends it. One brake exists, and it is narrow. CPLR 5224(f) requires leave of court to compel a judgment debtor to sit for a deposition, or produce books and papers, within one year after a previous examination on the same judgment. It does not cover information subpoenas.

Law: CPLR 5223; CPLR 5224; CPLR 5224(f).

What does CPLR 5223 let a judgment creditor ask for?

CPLR 5223 permits a judgment creditor to compel disclosure of all matter relevant to the satisfaction of the judgment by serving a subpoena upon any person. The statute is not limited to the judgment debtor. Relevance to satisfaction, not relevance to the old lawsuit, is the standard that governs what the questions may reach.

Read the phrase carefully. It covers what you own, what you earn, where it is deposited, who holds property for you, and what you transferred and to whom. The First Department has said the public policy is to put “no obstacle in the path” of those seeking to enforce a judgment.

Law: CPLR 5223; U.S. Bank N.A. v APP Intl. Fin. Co., B.V., 100 AD3d 179, 183 (1st Dept 2012).

The instinct that a question is objectionable because it has nothing to do with the underlying contract case is backwards. That case is over. The only live subject is the money.

The lawsuit asked what you did. The judgment asks what you have.

What are the three kinds of subpoenas under CPLR 5224?

CPLR 5224 authorizes three forms: a subpoena requiring attendance for a deposition on oral or written questions, a subpoena duces tecum requiring production of books and papers, and an information subpoena accompanied by a copy and original of written questions and a prepaid, addressed return envelope. A creditor may use any or all of them.

Law: CPLR 5224(a)(1), (2), (3); CPLR 5224(b), (c).

Notice what the fee rule tells you. The information subpoena is cheap to serve because it is built for volume. The control on it is the certification requirement below, not a fee.

When exactly are the answers to an information subpoena due?

Answers to an information subpoena are due within seven days after receipt. Service may be made by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. The answers must be made in writing under oath, each question answered separately and fully, each answer referring to the question it responds to, and returned together with the original of the questions.

Law: CPLR 5224(a)(3).

• Receipt starts the clock. The seven days run from receipt, not the postmark and not the day you opened the envelope. The return receipt is the creditor’s proof of date.
• Under oath. An unsworn answer does not satisfy the rule. It is signed exposure with none of the benefit.
• Separately and fully, with the original. A narrative letter in general terms does not comply. The original questions go back with the answers.
• Entities answer through a person. For a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship, an officer, director, agent, or employee having the information swears to them.

I read the return receipt and the judgment before I read a single question, because the date of receipt and the amount then due set everything that follows.

What has to appear on the face of the subpoena itself?

CPLR 5223 imposes content requirements on the subpoena itself. It must specify all parties to the action, the date of the judgment, the court in which the judgment was entered, the amount of the judgment, and the amount then due. It must also state that false swearing or failure to comply is punishable as contempt.

Law: CPLR 5223.

There is more when the target is not the judgment debtor. Where the creditor is private rather than governmental, CPLR 5224(a)(3)(i) permits service on a non-debtor only if the creditor or its attorney reasonably believes the recipient holds information about the debtor that will assist in collecting, and the subpoena must carry a signed certification saying so.

Two consequences follow. Under CPLR 5224(a)(3)(ii), an information subpoena served on a non-debtor without that certification is null and void. Under CPLR 5224(a)(3)(iii), a non-debtor served with a certified one may move to quash under CPLR 2304, except that the motion must be made in the court that issued the judgment. If the amount then due looks wrong, say so in writing when you respond.

Law: CPLR 5224(a)(3)(i), (ii), (iii).

Who else in my business is going to be served with one of these?

CPLR 5223 authorizes service of a subpoena upon any person, so the judgment creditor is not confined to the judgment debtor. The statute reaches banks holding operating accounts, payroll processors, bookkeepers and outside accountants, customers who owe receivables, title companies, landlords, and relatives believed to hold assets for the debtor.

This is the part that costs business owners the most. The judgment becomes a subject of correspondence between your creditor and your customers. Article 52 imposes no general duty of discretion, but CPLR 5240 lets a court condition an enforcement procedure to prevent unreasonable embarrassment.

The scope also does not stop at the state line. A subpoena duces tecum served on a judgment debtor, on an individual while in the state, or on a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or sole proprietorship entitled to do business here reaches the full disclosure prescribed by CPLR 5223, whether the materials sit within or without the state.

Law: CPLR 5224(a-1); CPLR 5240.

Moving records offshore or to an affiliate is not a defense. It is a fact for the creditor’s next motion.

What happens if I just do not answer?

Ignoring an article 52 subpoena is the one response the statute addresses by name. CPLR 5251 makes refusal or willful neglect to obey a subpoena issued under the title, and false swearing in answering written questions, punishable as contempt. But for an information subpoena from a private creditor, CPLR 5224(a)(3)(iv) routes non-compliance through CPLR 2308(b).

Law: CPLR 5251; CPLR 5224(a)(3)(iv); CPLR 2308(b).

That sequence is the most misunderstood point here. CPLR 2308(b) governs a subpoena not returnable in a court, which an attorney-issued information subpoena is. The issuer moves in Supreme Court to compel compliance. If the court finds the subpoena authorized, it orders compliance and may impose statutory costs, a penalty, and damages. Contempt follows disobedience of that order, not the missed deadline itself.

The contempt power itself comes from the Judiciary Law. Section 753(A)(5) lets a court of record punish, by fine and imprisonment or either, a witness who refuses or neglects to obey a subpoena, attend, be sworn, or answer. The application is made by notice of motion or order to show cause and must carry on its face notice that the purpose is to punish for contempt, that punishment may be fine or imprisonment, and a printed warning that failure to appear may result in arrest.

Law: Judiciary Law 753(A)(5); Judiciary Law 756.

Civil contempt is still not automatic. The Court of Appeals has set out the elements: a lawful mandate clearly and unequivocally expressed, disobedience shown with reasonable certainty, knowledge of the mandate, and prejudice to a party’s rights, all by clear and convincing evidence. Willfulness is not an element, so good intentions do not answer the motion.

Law: El-Dehdan v El-Dehdan, 26 NY3d 19 (2015).

Note the other half of CPLR 5251: false swearing in answering written questions is treated the same as refusing to answer. An inaccurate sworn answer is not safer than a late one.

Answering badly and answering not at all end up in the same paragraph of the same statute.

Can I object or move to quash instead of answering?

Yes, within limits. Three routes run alongside answering: a prompt written request to the issuing attorney to withdraw or modify the subpoena, a motion to quash, fix conditions, or modify under CPLR 2304, and an application under CPLR 5240 to limit or condition an enforcement procedure. Each leaves a record. Silence does not.

CPLR 2304 sets the general procedure. A motion to quash, fix conditions, or modify must be made promptly in the court in which the subpoena is returnable. If it is not returnable in a court, a request to withdraw or modify must first go to the person who issued it, and a motion may follow in Supreme Court. Reasonable conditions may be imposed either way.

Law: CPLR 2304.

Two qualifications sit on top of that text. A non-debtor served with a certified information subpoena moves under CPLR 5224(a)(3)(iii) in the court that issued the judgment. And promptness is measured against the return date, here seven days after receipt. A later motion invites a timeliness objection.

Expect the burden to sit on you. In the nonparty context under CPLR 3101(a)(4), the Court of Appeals held that the subpoenaing party must first state the circumstances or reasons for disclosure, after which the witness moving to quash must show that what is sought is “utterly irrelevant” or the process obviously futile. That framework is applied to post-judgment subpoenas against the wider article 52 measure.

Law: Matter of Kapon v Koch, 23 NY3d 32 (2014).

CPLR 5240 is the broader safety valve. The Court of Appeals has described it as vesting broad discretion to prevent abuse in the use of article 52 enforcement procedures, including unreasonable annoyance, expense, embarrassment, or prejudice. It addresses the manner of enforcement, not the right to enforce.

Law: CPLR 5240; Guardian Loan Co. v Early, 47 NY2d 515 (1979).

Understand what CPLR 5240 is not. It does not erase the judgment or pause collection because paying is inconvenient. Guardian Loan holds it gives no relief once a procedure has been carried out lawfully, there a completed sheriff’s sale with the deed delivered. Relief is discretionary, never automatic.

What should I do in the next seven days?

The seven-day period under CPLR 5224 runs from receipt, which makes the first day the important one. Work in this order and keep every step in writing, so the file shows a response rather than a refusal. Verify the subpoena before you answer it, because a defective one served on a non-debtor may be void.

• Date the receipt. Find the certified mail record and calendar day seven. Do not guess at the date.
• Check the face of it against CPLR 5223. Parties, judgment date, court of entry, amount of the judgment, amount then due, contempt warning.
• If you are not the judgment debtor, look for the certification. Without it the subpoena is null and void under CPLR 5224(a)(3)(ii). That is a defect to raise in writing, not a reason to say nothing.
• Pull the judgment. Confirm the amount, the date of entry, and whether it was entered on default. Attacking the judgment is a separate track from answering.
• Sort every question. Answerable, answerable with a qualification, genuinely objectionable. Most in a standard set are answerable.
• Decide the route before day four. Answer under oath, request withdrawal or modification from the issuing attorney, move under CPLR 2304, or seek relief under CPLR 5240. Choosing none is not an option.
• Assume close reading. Every sworn answer is a document the creditor can use in the next motion. Accuracy is the whole defense.

One more point of sequence. Post-judgment disclosure is the opening move in a collection campaign, not the end of it. The better question this week is what the creditor will do with the answers — and whether the judgment behind them is the real target.