Who uses these forms
Georgia's lien statute, O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366, prints three forms [3]. Subsection (d) holds the waiver and release upon interim payment, subsection (e) the waiver and release upon final payment, and subsection (g)(2)(C) the affidavit of nonpayment.
The forms are mandatory. Where a claimant is requested to sign a waiver and release in exchange for payment or to bring payment about, its wording has to substantially follow the statute: the interim form for any payment short of final payment, the final form for final payment [3]. Under subsection (c), no statement by a claimant, oral or written, waives or impairs a lien or bond claim unless it is pursuant to a waiver and release form the statute prescribes, duly executed by the claimant, and the claimant has received payment for the claim as subsection (g) sets out [3]. Subsection (a) limits the waivers to lien and labor or material bond rights [3].
Advance waivers are void. Under subsection (b), lien and bond claim rights cannot be given up before labor, services or materials have been furnished; a purported waiver or release signed ahead of that point is null, void and unenforceable [3].
What the statute says about them
A signed waiver and release binds the claimant to the extent it states [3]. Subsection (g)(2) says it is conclusively deemed effective at whichever of these comes first [3]:
- the claimant actually receives funds in the amount the waiver sets out;
- the claimant signs a separate written acknowledgment of payment in full;
- 90 days [3] after the waiver is executed, unless the claimant, before those 90 days end, files an affidavit of nonpayment in the property's county.
Once such an affidavit is on file, the waiver and release stays suspended until full payment arrives [3].
On type, each form has to be in at least 12 point font [3] and need not be in boldface capital letters. Only the affidavit of nonpayment is notarized: it is sworn before a notary public, while the two waivers are given under hand and seal before a witness [3].
Reading the blanks
All three forms open alike. After the county, each asks for the contractor who employed the mechanic or materialman, what was furnished, the project's title, its city and county, and the owner, then a property description by metes and bounds, land lot district, block and lot number, or street address.
The interim waiver adds a sum and a through date, and its text excepts rights and liens the claimant may hold in retained amounts. The final waiver asks only for a sum. Each waiver ends with a dated line given under hand and seal, spaces for a witness and an address, and a NOTICE on the 90-day period [3]. A proviso after each waiver keeps the form valid despite a blank filled in wrongly, provided the subject matter of the release can reasonably be determined [3].
On the affidavit, the blanks record when the earlier waiver and release was dated, the amount stated in it, and the part of that amount still unpaid. A sworn date line, the claimant's signature, a witness and a notary public follow, and a closing paragraph addresses sending a copy of the filed affidavit to the property owner.
What changed recently
The section's current wording was rewritten by 2020 Senate Bill 315 [1] and then amended by 2021 Senate Bill 143 [2].