Michigan Full Unconditional Waiver of Lien

Michigan's Construction Lien Act will not let a lien waiver run ahead of the money. A full unconditional waiver of lien is signed after full payment for the contract has actually arrived, and once signed it holds nothing back: no amount left open, no condition waiting on a check to clear. Section 115 of the Construction Lien Act, 1980 PA 497, MCL 570.1115, prints the wording, and a claimant paid in full provides the waiver to the owner, lessee, or designee.

Payment first, then the waiver

MCL 570.1115(1) is where Michigan draws the line. A person may not require, as part of any contract for an improvement, that the right to a construction lien be waived in advance of work performed, and a waiver obtained that way is contrary to public policy and invalid, except to the extent that payment for labor and material furnished was actually made to the person who gave it. The same subsection adds that accepting a promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness does not of itself waive or discharge lien rights. MCL 570.1115(2) then makes the document the claimant's answer to being paid: a lien claimant who receives full payment for the contract provides a full unconditional waiver of lien.

What the statutory words give up

The operative sentence names the contract, what was furnished, and the property improved, and then states that the contract has been fully paid and satisfied and that all of the claimant's construction lien rights against that property are waived and released. The partial waiver at MCL 570.1115(3) covers an amount received, and the conditional waivers in MCL 570.1115(4) take effect only upon payment of the amount indicated. This one carries no amount entry and no condition. Its counterweight sits in MCL 570.1115(6): a waiver under section 115 becomes effective when a person makes payment relying on it, unless that person has written notice, at the time of payment, that the consideration for the waiver has failed.

The paragraph that makes a homeowner pick up the phone

On residential work the statutory form carries its own authenticity paragraph, and it prints on this form. Where the improvement is to a residential structure, where the claimant filed a notice of furnishing or is excused from filing one, and where the waiver reaches the owner, lessee, or designee from someone other than the claimant named in it, MCL 570.1115(7) holds reliance until the recipient verifies the waiver with that claimant in writing, by telephone, or personally. That is why the claimant's name, address, and telephone number sit on the face of the document. MCL 570.1115(8) answers the parallel question for laborers, whose authorized agent may provide waivers on their behalf.

Where the document goes after it is signed

A Michigan construction lien waiver is not filed anywhere. The statutory form carries no notarial certificate and no witness line: the claimant signs it, dates it, and hands it to the owner, lessee, or designee, keeping a copy as the statutory caution line describes. The register of deeds sees a different instrument from the same job, the claim of lien under MCL 570.1111, recorded separately and not part of this package; the MCL 565.201 recording-format conditions govern that instrument rather than this delivered one. Whatever a pay application calls it, a lien release or lien waiver in Michigan travels by delivery.

The configuration this form carries

This is the full unconditional waiver of the four forms in MCL 570.1115(9), which the statute directs to be used in substantially the format printed there. One lien claimant is named on a free entry line, because contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers share one waiver wording under the act, and one signature block follows, with the printed name, date signed, title, address, and telephone entries the statutory form prints. County, street address, and legal description entries together supply the statutory description of the property improved. A subcontractor closing out a mechanical or electrical contract with the general contractor, and a supplier collecting the last invoice on a job, present the paid-in-full pattern this waiver recites. Nothing on the form states an amount or a condition, so the document expresses one thing: a contract paid in full, with the lien rights that secured it released.

The package includes the fillable waiver form, a completed example filled in for an Oakland County mechanical subcontract, and a guide covering section 115, each entry on the form, signing, and delivery. These materials are informational and do not constitute legal advice.