Georgia lien waiver forms: which one to use and when

Georgia's statutory forms

The 2020 amendment (SB 315) renamed the forms, set the type size, rewrote the notice and stretched the clock from 60 days to 90. The 2021 amendment (SB 143) restated the 90-day rule in subsection (g)(2) and corrected a reference in the affidavit form. Forms printed before those changes may still be in circulation, so check yours against the current wording.

How closely you must follow the form

Both waivers “shall substantially follow the language of the following form, be in at least 12 point font, and need not be in boldface capital letters.” A blank filled in wrongly doesn't sink the form, as long as the subject matter of the release can reasonably be determined. Leaving off the notice does:

No other statement waives a Georgia lien or bond claim: under subsection (c), it has to be a statutory form the claimant has signed, and the claimant has to have received payment as subsection (g) defines it. Waivers signed before the work is done are void (subsection (b)). And since 2020, subsection (a) limits these waivers to lien and labor or material bond rights; they don't affect the claimant's other rights or remedies.

When a Georgia waiver takes effect

Under subsection (g)(2), as restated in 2021, the waiver is conclusively deemed effective on the earliest of three dates:

1. Actual receipt of funds in the amount set out in the waiver.
2. The claimant signs a separate written acknowledgment of payment in full.
3. Ninety days after the waiver was signed, unless before then the claimant files an affidavit of nonpayment in the county where the property is located.

Filing the affidavit suspends the waiver until you're paid in full. Once you are, you must, on request, sign a recordable affidavit that payment has been received, which voids the affidavit of nonpayment when it's recorded. None of this shortens your deadline to file a claim of lien.

Interim vs final

• The interim form waives liens and bond rights “through the date of” a date you write in, excepting rights in “any retained amounts.” After that payment, your lien priority for anything except retention runs from the day after that date.
• The final form waives all liens and bond rights for labor or materials you furnished to that contractor for the property, with no carve-out for retention or disputed extras.
• Both forms identify the property by metes and bounds, land lot district, block and lot number, or street address, and start with STATE OF GEORGIA and the county.

Signing: hand and seal, and a witness line

Each form ends “GIVEN UNDER HAND AND SEAL THIS ___ DAY OF ___,” with a signature line marked “(SEAL)” and, beside it, a line for a witness and an address. The waivers have no notary block. Keep the witness line and get it signed: the statute asks you to substantially follow the form, and the witness is part of it.

The affidavit of nonpayment is a sworn document: the form ends “SWORN TO AND EXECUTED IN THE PRESENCE OF” a witness and a notary public. Within seven days of filing it, you must send a copy by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the property owner, and in some cases to the contractor at the address on the notice of commencement.

Georgia's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the federal ESIGN Act let an electronic signature satisfy a signature requirement, so the claimant and the witness can both sign electronically. See Georgia's e-signature law. The affidavit is filed with the county, so follow the clerk's rules for how it must be signed and notarized.

Common Georgia mistakes

• Assuming the waiver is conditional because it says “upon the receipt.” After 90 days it takes effect whether you were paid or not.
• Missing the 90-day window. Put the date you signed each waiver on your calendar, with a reminder well before day 90.
• Counting on a claim of lien to stop the clock. The pre-2020 notice mentioned one; the current text names only the affidavit of nonpayment.
• An old form with the 60-day notice. It doesn't match the current notice, and a form without the required notice is unenforceable.
• Signing the final form with retention unpaid. The final form has no retention exception.

Sending Georgia waivers with SignMaster

1. 1

   Build the current forms

   Type the interim and final forms from the 2020 text in at least 12 point type, notice included, and upload each with New template.

2. 2

   Add two signers

   Give each template a Claimant role and a Witness role. Set a signing order so the claimant signs first, or use in-person signing when the witness is in the room. See how to add a witness.

3. 3

   Fill the blanks as fields

   Contractor, materials or labor, project, city, county, owner, property description, amount and through date become text fields.

4. 4

   Track the 90 days

   The certificate of completion records the date and time the claimant signed. Count your 90 days from the date of execution, and chase unpaid waivers before the window closes.