Can we put $10 for the dollar amount on a GA final waiver instead of the actual final payment amount? This way no one can add up all the waivers & know exactly what we paid our sub.
1 reply
Mar 5, 2020
Zero-dollar waivers, or waivers for a nominal amount like $10, in order to disguise the actual sub-tier charges from the property owner are relatively common and used by many parties - but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's a good idea, or even valid.
In fact, many people have the same questions with respect to using waivers in this manner, and you can read more with respect to those particular situations here:
There can be very specific dangers to providing and/or requesting nominal-value waivers, though.
The purpose of a lien waiver is to act as a receipt for payment received, and to waive lien rights to a corresponding amount. If the waiver lists the amount as $10, the right to lien for $10 is what is being waived. While there are other considerations regarding the ability or likelihood of a lien being filed since the parties have presumably been paid, the waiver may not be what is standing in the way. In any event, however, the use of a through-date or the use of "final" waiver forms would be an absolute necessity if a waiver that didn't list the actual payment is used.
Additionally, Georgia is a state with statutory lien waiver forms. These specific forms must be used by parties in Georgia in order for the waiver to be considered valid.
Since the Georgia statutes don't specify that the amount on the waiver is the amount necessarily due for the work performed, but rather the consideration for which the lienor waives or releases his/her right to claim a lien for work performed through some date, it may be sufficient for the purposes of the waiver itself to list a nominal value.