Missouri lien waiver forms: which one to use and when

Which projects § 429.016 covers

The section applies only to mechanic's liens on residential real property, and it carves out repair, remodeling or additions to owner-occupied residential property of four units or less, which section 429.013 governs. Residential real property, as the section defines it, is land used or intended for building residential structures that, once finished, the current owner will occupy or sell. It includes:

• Any dwelling of four units or less, whether or not an owner lives in it.
• Structures made up only of residential condominiums, townhouses or cooperatives, regardless of the number of units.
• Streets, sidewalks, utility services and improved common areas built within those residential parcels.

Mixed-use and planned unit developments are excluded, except for residential uses on separate, identifiable parcels. In practice this is the world of builders and developers putting up houses and townhomes to sell, and the subs and suppliers who work for them.

The one statutory form

The form is titled UNCONDITIONAL FINAL LIEN WAIVER FOR RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY. The claimant, by legal name and address, “fully, finally, and unconditionally waives and releases any right to assert or enforce a mechanic's lien claim” against the property for all work performed before a stated date, and for any later work under agreements signed before that date. Below it goes the property's legal description.

The execution rules are specific. The claimant's legal name, and the name, title or position, address and telephone number of the person signing, must be typed or legibly printed immediately above or below the signature, and the date signed typed or printed immediately next to it. There's no notary or witness requirement for the waiver.

What the residential waiver does

• It's complete and absolute. It covers remedial or additional work too, under the original agreement or a supplemental one signed before the waiver (subsection 26).
• It holds even if you're not paid. It's valid and enforceable as to your lien rights “notwithstanding claimant's failure to receive any promised payment or other consideration” (subsection 29).
• It's limited to the lien. Signed for less than full consideration, it binds your lien rights but doesn't waive any other claim, remedy or cause of action (subsection 28).
• Short payments need it. A waiver isn't read as releasing lien rights for a payment of less than the amount then claimed due, unless it's this unconditional final form (subsection 25).

The notice of rights comes first

On these projects your lien rights depend on a recorded notice. When the owner records a notice of intended sale, at least 45 days before the closing date it states, any claimant who wants to keep lien rights must record a notice of rights with the county recorder of deeds at least five calendar days before that closing date, unless an earlier recorded notice already identifies them. Miss it and you forfeit the lien, though not your other ways to collect. The notice of rights must be signed by an authorized person and the signature notarized.

Everything else: no statutory form

Subsection 25 lets any claimant waive lien rights on residential property with a partial or full waiver, “whether conditioned upon receipt of payment or unconditional,” and Missouri prescribes no wording for those. The same goes for commercial work and owner-occupied remodels. You and the owner, lender or GC choose the form, so read it: check the amount, the through date, the exceptions for retainage and unpaid change orders, and whether it's conditional. Our conditional lien waiver template is a starting point to review with counsel, not a statutory form.

Signing electronically

Missouri's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act says “If a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law” (RSMo § 432.230.4), and the federal ESIGN Act agrees. Nothing in § 429.016 requires the waiver itself to be notarized, so a claimant can e-sign it, as long as the printed name, title, address, phone and date sit where the statute puts them. See Missouri's e-signature law.

Common Missouri mistakes

• Signing the residential unconditional final waiver before you're paid. Subsection 29 makes it enforceable anyway.
• Leaving off the signer's details. The printed name, title, address, phone and date are part of the statutory requirements.
• Using the residential form on an owner-occupied remodel. That work falls under section 429.013, not 429.016.
• Ignoring a written request once paid in full. Five calendar days is the limit.

Sending Missouri waivers with SignMaster

1. 1

   Build the residential form

   Type the Unconditional Final Lien Waiver for Residential Real Property from § 429.016.27 and upload it with New template, with a Claimant signing role.

2. 2

   Place the details by the signature

   Put Company, Name and Phone fields, plus text fields for title and address, directly under the signature field, and a Date signed field right beside it, so every copy meets the layout rule.

3. 3

   Send it when the last payment clears

   Send the waiver from the template once final payment is in. A sign-by date and reminders help a claimant meet the 5-day request rule.

4. 4

   Use your own forms for progress draws

   For progress or conditional waivers, upload the form your lender or contract calls for as a second template, and send it with each draw.