Berrien County Partial Conditional Waiver of Lien Form

A Michigan partial conditional waiver of lien gives up part of a construction lien, and gives up nothing at all until the money actually arrives. MCL 570.1115(4) is the reason: a partial conditional waiver of lien is effective upon payment of the amount indicated in the waiver. This form is the partial conditional waiver among the statutory waiver forms Michigan prints for construction liens, set up for one lien claimant, one stated dollar amount, and one stated through date.

A waiver that waits for the payment

Conditional is the operative word. An unconditional waiver states the giving up of lien rights on its own terms; a conditional lien waiver carries the payment condition on its face, and this form prints it in the statutory sentence that the waiver is conditioned on actual payment of the amount shown above. Michigan adds a second timing rule from the payer's side: under MCL 570.1115(6) a waiver is effective when a person makes payment relying on it, unless at the time payment was made the person paying has written notice that the consideration for the waiver has failed.

Partial means the lien survives above the amount stated

The document names a figure and a date, and reaches no further than both. The claimant waives the construction lien to the amount entered after the dollar sign, for labor or material provided through the date entered next to it, which leaves later work and any larger balance untouched by the waiver. The statutory sentence then has the claimant state whether this waiver, together with all previous waivers, does or does not cover all amounts due for contract improvement provided through that date. Both alternatives are printed with a box beside each, neither is marked on the blank, and one carries the mark on a completed form. Where retainage is held back, MCL 570.1115(5) treats retainage that is not payable until some further event as not yet due for purposes of the act.

The residential paragraph the statute writes in the first person

One long sentence on the form belongs to the owner rather than to the claimant. Where the improvement is to a residential structure, where the owner, lessee, or designee has a notice of furnishing from the claimant under MCL 570.1109 or the claimant is excused from giving one, and where the waiver arrived from someone other than the claimant, MCL 570.1115(7) blocks reliance on it until the owner, lessee, or designee verifies authenticity with the claimant in writing, by telephone, or personally. The statutory form recites that rule in the claimant's own voice, which is why the address and telephone lines matter: a verification call uses them.

Why a waiver cannot be collected in advance

Michigan closed the door on lien waivers bargained for at contract signing. MCL 570.1115(1) provides that a person shall 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 payment was actually made to the person giving it. The subsection adds that taking a promissory note or other evidence of indebtedness does not by itself waive or discharge valid lien rights.

One claimant, one amount, one condition

The form carries a single signature block for the lien claimant, with the printed name of the signer, the date signed, the address, and the telephone number the statutory form calls for, and it carries no notarial certificate, because the waiver form in MCL 570.1115(9) prints none. A subcontractor signing at a monthly draw, a supplier releasing part of a running material account, and a general contractor trading paper for a construction draw all present the single claimant pattern this form recites. Michigan's construction lien is what many other states call a mechanics lien, and a claimant here can be a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or laborer under MCL 570.1107. What the form does not recite is a full release; it reaches a stated amount and a stated date.

Included in the download are the fillable partial conditional waiver, a completed example filled in for an Ottawa County subcontractor's progress payment, and a guide covering section 115 subsection by subsection, every entry on the form, and how delivery works. All of it is informational, and it is not legal advice.