No Private Right of Action Against Bank for Failure to Comply with Exempt Income Protection Act (CPLR Article 52)

In answering certified questions from the Second Circuit, the Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Graffeo, determined a judgment debtor does not have a private right of action against a bank which, when served with a restraining notice by a judgment creditor, fails to forward the appropriate forms to the judgment debtor as required by the Exempt Income Protection Act (EIPA).  The forms alert the judgment debtor to the restraining notice, describe funds which are exempt from restraint, and provide information about seeking vacatur of the money judgment.  The court wrote:

…[A] private right to bring a plenary action for injunctive relief and money damages cannot be implied from the EIPA — and we therefore answer the first certified question in the negative.  As for the second certified question, a judgment debtor can secure relief from a bank arising from a violation of the EIPA in a CPLR Article 52 special proceeding… .  And our determination that the legislation created no private right of action compels the conclusion that the statutory mechanisms for relief are exclusive.  Banks had no obligation under the common law to forward notices of exemption and exemption claim forms to judgment debtors.  It therefore follows that any right debtors have to enforce that obligation, among others imposed under CPLR 5222-a, arises from the statute and, since the EIPA does not give rise to a private right of action, the only relief available is that provided in CPLR Article 52 … . Cruz v TD Bank NA…, 191, CtApp 11-21-13