How to Fill Out the Michigan Full Unconditional Lien Waiver Form

Michigan’s full unconditional lien waiver is a one-page statutory form a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier signs after receiving final payment to permanently release all construction lien rights against the property. The exact wording is fixed by MCL 570.1115 of the Michigan Construction Lien Act, which requires the form to appear “in substantially the following format.” You fill in the blanks; you don’t rewrite the surrounding language. The form itself takes only a few minutes to complete, but a wrong name, a vague property description, or signing it before your check clears can cost you the lien rights the form was supposed to document away cleanly.¹

Make Sure This Is the Right Waiver

Michigan recognizes four construction lien waivers, and the full unconditional form is only correct at one specific moment: after you’ve received complete and final payment for everything owed under the contract. If any money is still outstanding, or the final check hasn’t cleared, this is the wrong form.

A partial unconditional waiver releases rights up to a stated dollar amount for work through a certain date, used for progress payments already received.
A partial conditional waiver does the same but only takes effect once the stated payment clears.
A full conditional waiver covers the entire contract but is conditioned on the final payment actually clearing.
A full unconditional waiver releases every lien right against the property with no conditions attached.

A lien claimant who has received full payment is required by statute to furnish a full unconditional waiver to the owner or lessee.¹ One protection runs the other direction: no one can require you to waive lien rights for work you haven’t performed. A contract clause demanding an advance waiver is void as against public policy, except to the extent payment was actually made.

Filling In Each Blank

The form has no dollar-amount field. Unlike the partial waivers, this one simply declares the contract has been “fully paid and satisfied.” The fields you complete are:

Other contracting party. The full legal name of whoever you contracted with. For a subcontractor, that’s usually the general contractor, not the owner. For a general contractor, it’s the owner or lessee. Use the name exactly as it appears in your contract.
Type of improvement. Describe the work you provided, such as “electrical rough-in and finish” or “concrete foundation.” Keep the description consistent with the contract and the project’s notice of commencement.
Property description. Identify the property where the work was done. The statute doesn’t dictate a format, but matching the street address together with the legal description or tax parcel number from the notice of commencement is the safest route. A vague or wrong description can make the waiver invisible during a title search.
Signature. The lien claimant signs, or someone with authority to bind the claimant’s company. Sole proprietors sign personally. Officers or authorized agents sign and add their title.
Date. The actual date of signing. Don’t backdate.
Address and telephone. Business contact information for the claimant.

Printed on the form itself is a warning: “DO NOT SIGN BLANK OR INCOMPLETE FORMS. RETAIN A COPY.”¹ Once the signed document leaves your hands, whoever holds it controls what gets written in any empty blanks. Fill everything in before you sign, and keep a copy of what you delivered.

The Language You Cannot Change

Because the statute requires the form “in substantially the following format,” the operative sentence cannot be rewritten, paraphrased, or expanded with extra conditions. It reads:

“My/our contract with [other contracting party] to provide [improvement] for the improvement of the property described as: [property description] has been fully paid and satisfied. By signing this waiver, all my/our construction lien rights against the described property are waived and released.”¹

You complete the bracketed fields, and that’s all. If the party requesting the waiver hands you a form with added release language, extra indemnification clauses, or waivers of bond rights, read carefully before signing. The statutory waiver only releases construction lien rights. Any broader language is a separate agreement, and signing it can give up rights you never meant to.

When the Waiver Actually Takes Effect

This is the point that trips people up the most. An unconditional waiver is not automatically effective the moment you sign it. Under MCL 570.1115(6), the waiver becomes effective when someone makes a payment relying on it, unless the person paying had written notice at the time of payment that the consideration for the waiver had failed, such as notice of a prior bounced check.¹

The practical consequence is sharp. If you sign and hand over a full unconditional waiver before your final check clears, and the check later bounces, anyone who relied on your waiver to make a payment is protected. Your lien rights against the property are gone. You still have a breach-of-contract claim for the unpaid amount, but you’ve lost the security that made the lien worth having in the first place.

The safer practice is to wait until the funds are confirmed in your account before delivering the signed waiver. If the paying party insists on receiving a waiver before the check clears, use a full conditional waiver instead. That form states on its face that it takes effect only upon actual payment.

Does the Form Need to Be Notarized?

No. The statutory form requires only the lien claimant’s signature, and Michigan law does not require notarization for the waiver to be valid. There’s also a credible argument that notarizing the form alters the statutory format and could be used to challenge its validity. Some lenders and title companies still ask for notarized waivers as an internal policy before releasing construction loan funds. Michigan notaries can charge up to $10 per notarial act if you choose to accommodate that request, but understand that the notary stamp adds nothing to the legal enforceability of the waiver between you and the other contracting party.

Extra Step for Residential Projects

Michigan adds a verification requirement when the property is a residential structure and the owner or lessee received a notice of furnishing from the lien claimant, or the claimant wasn’t required to provide one. In that situation, the owner cannot rely on the waiver unless it came directly from the claimant. If a third party delivered it — for example, a general contractor handing over a sub’s waiver — the owner must contact the lien claimant in writing, by phone, or in person to verify the waiver is authentic before relying on it.¹

Homeowners receiving waivers through a general contractor should not skip this call. A forged or unauthorized waiver gives you no protection against a lien if you never confirmed it with the person who supposedly signed it.

Delivering the Signed Waiver

Once the form is signed, it has to reach the owner, lessee, or their designee. Michigan law doesn’t mandate a specific delivery method, so you have options:

Hand delivery works well when the signed waiver is being traded for a check at the project site or office. Get the recipient to sign a brief acknowledgment of receipt.
Certified mail with return receipt creates a dated paper trail. The postage is small insurance for the documentation.
Electronic delivery is viable under Michigan’s adoption of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, which recognizes electronic signatures and records for most transactions. Construction lien waivers are not on the act’s excluded list. Confirm the underlying contract doesn’t require hard copies before sending a signed PDF by email or through a project management platform.

Keep a copy of every signed waiver along with proof of delivery. Months or years later, during a title search or refinancing, your file is the evidence that the waiver was properly executed and delivered.

Mistakes That Cause the Most Trouble

Most problems with these waivers come from timing errors or sloppy paperwork, not fraud. The patterns worth avoiding:

Signing before payment clears. The single costliest mistake. Once someone relies on your unconditional waiver, your lien rights are released whether you were actually paid or not. Use a conditional waiver if funds aren’t confirmed.
Wrong property description. A description that doesn’t match the notice of commencement or recorded documents may not surface in a title search, leaving matters unresolved on the title.
Wrong contracting party name. The “other contracting party” field must name whoever you actually contracted with. A subcontractor who writes in the homeowner’s name instead of the GC has signed a waiver that doesn’t match any real contract.
Added non-statutory language. Extra releases, indemnifications, or conditions bolted onto the form risk invalidating it. Keep the statutory form clean and put any other agreement in a separate document.
Signing blank forms. Handing over a signed form with empty blanks lets someone else write in details for a project, party, or amount you didn’t authorize.

Cross-check every completed waiver against your contract and the project’s notice of commencement before you sign. A few minutes of verification on names, descriptions, and payment status prevents the title and lien problems that take months to clean up.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 570.1115 – Waiver of Construction Lien