Michigan Full Conditional Waiver of Lien

A Michigan full conditional waiver of lien is signed before the money arrives and does its work only after the money arrives. It is the final waiver a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or laborer hands over for a payment covering the whole of that claimant's contract, and MCL 570.1115(4) makes a full conditional waiver of lien effective upon payment of the amount indicated in the waiver. Until that payment is made, the construction lien rights against the property are intact.

The condition is the whole mechanism

Section 115 of the Construction Lien Act, 1980 PA 497, supplies four waiver forms, to be used in substantially the format the statute prints. Two of the four are conditional, and the condition is one printed sentence: the waiver is conditioned on actual payment of the amount shown above. MCL 570.1115(6) works the paying side, making a waiver effective when a person makes payment relying on it, unless that person then has written notice that the consideration for the waiver has failed. A payment that fails leaves the printed condition unmet.

What a Michigan contract cannot demand up front

MCL 570.1115(1) bars requiring, as part of any contract for an improvement, that the right to a construction lien be waived in advance of work performed. Such a waiver is contrary to public policy and invalid, except to the extent that payment for labor and material furnished was actually made to the person giving it, and the same subsection adds that accepting a promissory note does not of itself waive valid lien rights. A conditional lien waiver exchanged for an identified payment on work already performed sits on the far side of that line, and the amount printed in the fourth section identifies the payment.

The residential authenticity paragraph on the face

When the improvement is to a residential structure, Michigan puts a verification step in front of reliance. Under MCL 570.1115(7) an owner, lessee, or designee may not rely on a waiver provided by a person other than the lien claimant named in it, where that claimant filed a notice of furnishing under section 109 or is excused from filing one under section 108 or 108a, without first verifying authenticity with the claimant in writing, by telephone, or personally. MCL 570.1115(8) qualifies that subsection for an agent acting for a laborer or group of laborers. The paragraph describing the check prints on the face of this form, above the claimant's name, address, and telephone number.

Full and conditional, fixed on the document

The waiver forms in MCL 570.1115(9) turn on scope and on effect, and this form fixes both as printed text rather than as choices. The scope is full: the document reaches the claimant's contract as a whole, stating no partial amount and no through date. The effect is conditional: signature alone releases nothing, because the release waits on actual payment of the amount entered in the fourth section. One signature line carries the printed name and title of the individual who signs, so a company claimant signs through a person whose capacity appears on the document, and the form carries no notarial certificate, section 115 prescribing none for a waiver of lien. Final payment on a completed subcontract, and a closing draw at which a title company or lender assembles waivers before funding, are the settings in which this pattern shows up in a project file. A stated partial amount for labor provided through a stated date, and a release operating on signature regardless of payment, belong to the other waiver patterns in that subsection, prepared separately and not included here.

Handed over, and kept

Nothing in section 115 sends a lien waiver to a register of deeds. It moves from the claimant to the owner, lessee, or designee, and the statutory form closes by directing that a copy be retained. The recorded instrument in this act is the claim of lien, recorded separately with the register of deeds and not part of this package; MCL 570.1111 requires it within 90 days after the claimant last furnished labor or material. A waiver is never presented for recording, so the format conditions of MCL 565.201 do not bear on it, though the form still prints at letter size in 10 point type.

This package includes the fillable waiver, a completed example prepared for a Macomb County roofing subcontract, and a guide that walks section 115, the six numbered sections, the signature area, and delivery. It is informational material and not legal advice.