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Are we able to issue an Unconditional Waiver for the same item and amount using different dates?

CaliforniaLien Waivers

We have a project that we received a deposit / down payment and issued an Unconditional Progress Lien Release thru 4/30/17 with an amount of $247,031.25 & emailed to our customer on 7/18/17 and now they are asking for an Unconditional Progress thru 4/30/2018 for this same amount. I sent them the older one, but they keep asking us to change it to 4/30/2018. Would I be ok to give them what they want, as long as I do not give them the Unconditional Final!

1 reply

May 31, 2018

That's an interesting question. A California partial unconditional waiver will waive a set amount for work performed through a set date. Naturally, submitting a second waiver for the same amount could cause some uneasiness. However, lien rights will only be waived for the amount included on the waiver and will only be waived through the date identified as the through date. In fact, under the "Exceptions" section of the lien waver, the document states that it will not affect "Contract rights, including...(B) the right to recover compensation for work not compensated by the payment." among other amounts. The presence of unpaid amounts prior to the waiver (other than amounts included in the "Exceptions" section of the waiver - such as Retentions) could complicate things somewhat. However, merely moving back the date for an unconditional partial waiver, and waiving the same amount, should have little effect. Note, though, that if any payments became due after the original waiver was submitted, those amounts should not be waived by the claimant. While the unconditional waiver states that compensation for work performed but not yet paid for will not be waived, it's still an "unconditional" waiver. So it couldn't hurt to elaborate what payments should not be waived in the "Exceptions" section.

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