West Virginia Lien Waiver Rules
- Rules At A Glance
No Specific Form
West Virginia does not require any specific lien waiver form to be used.
Notarization Not Required
West Virginia lien waivers do not need to be notarized in order to be effective.
Can Waive Rights in Contract
West Virginia has no specific prohibition on waiving future lien rights through contract, and at least some West Virginia courts have acknowledged the possibility of advance lien waivers in contract.
Can Waive Rights Before Payment
West Virginia law does not specifically prohibit waiving lien rights prior to receipt of payment.
In West Virginia, lien waivers are exchanged on construction projects all the time. Whenever payment exchanges hands you can be sure that lien waivers are also being requested and exchanged.
West Virginia does not provide a specific statutory form or template that must be used in order for a lien waiver to be valid, so construction participants are free to use whatever kind of lien waiver form they want. Since the form lien waivers must take is not regulated in West Virginia, it can be easy for West Virginia lien wavier language to include clauses that overreach, or work to waive more than the singer may intend.
Many states explicitly don’t allow parties to waive lien rights before they begin work on a project. West Virginia, however, does to have a specific prohibition on advance lien waivers. Since West Virginia law is silent on whether or not lien rights may be waived prior to beginning work, it is a best practice to make sure that every contract is examined to make sure that it doesn’t contain a “no-lien” clause that could impair the ability to get paid for the work performed.
