Virginia Contractors CAN Waive Lien Rights
On January 20, 2009
By Scott Wolfe Jr
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We’ve posted in the past about how difficult it is for Louisiana contractors to waive their rights to lien in a construction contract. In that post it was explained that under Louisiana law, a party cannot waive a right that it may only possess in the future.
The question of whether a party can waive its right to lien at the time of contracting is treated differently from state-to-state.
It seems that in Virginia, a party absolutely can waive its right to lien a project at the time of contracting. United Masonry, Inc. v. Riggs Nat’l Bank, 233 Va. 476, 357 S.E.2d 509 (1987).
The availability of lien waivers are explained in Fullerton & Knowles’ Construction Law Survival Guide.
Contractors in Virginia should be cautious before signing a construction contract that they do not waive their right to lien the project in the event of non-payment. While the law prohibits these type of clauses in other states, in Virginia contractual lien waivers are allowed.
Related posts:
- Virginia Mechanic’s Lien Primer by Chris Hill
- Virginia – Strongest Liens of them All?
- 30-Day Notice on Residential Projects in Virginia
- Credit Meltdown Squeezing Contractors – Lien To Protect Your Rights
- Can Unlicensed Contractors Lien in California?
About the Author: Scott Wolfe Jr
Scott is the founder of Zlien, a nationwide mechanics lien and preliminary notice filing service. Zlien publishes the Construction Lien Blog, and has done so since 2007. Scott has been a leading contributor and author on the blog since it's initial publication. Scott is also the founder of Wolfe Law Group, a construction law firm that practices along the West Coast and in Louisiana. He lives in New Orleans, LA, where he was born and raised.
Scott,
This has two sides to it. From an “upstream” perspective, I always want my clients who are paying money to get lien waivers prior to payment. From a “downstream” side, I recommend no waiver until certainty of payment.
FYI- It is a felony in Virginia to file a false lien waiver.
[...] in your contract? Can owners do that? Recently Express Lien reported that Virginia law permits a contractor to waive its lien rights in any project. While this certainly is not uniform across all states, there are a number of states [...]
[...] waivers in the past. In some states, lien rights can be waived before the start of a project (like in Virginia). In others, law and public policy prevent such waivers (like in [...]