{"id":902085,"date":"2024-01-04T15:59:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=902085"},"modified":"2024-01-04T15:59:11","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:59:11","slug":"contractors-refusal-to-sign-broad-lien-waiver-does-not-defeat-mechanics-lien","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-refusal-to-sign-broad-lien-waiver-does-not-defeat-mechanics-lien\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractor\u2019s Refusal to Sign Broad Lien Waiver Does Not Defeat Mechanics Lien"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>John Mark Goodman | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildsmartbradley.com\/2024\/01\/contractors-refusal-to-sign-broad-lien-waiver-does-not-defeat-mechanics-lien\/?utm_source=Bradley+Arant+Boult+Cummings+LLP+-+BuildSmart&amp;utm_campaign=0feec9856d-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_b504caf31b-0feec9856d-78863422\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">BuildSmart<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, the Oregon Court of Appeals reinstated a contractor\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/the-life-of-a-mechanics-lien-claim-preserve-perfect-enforce-construction-law-musings-richmond-va\/\">mechanics lien claim<\/a> notwithstanding the owner\u2019s offer of payment because the offer was conditioned on the contractor signing a broad lien waiver that would have released other claims.&nbsp; See,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buildsmartbradley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2024\/01\/DEVELOPMENT-NORTHWEST-INC-an-Oregon-corporation-dba-Wolcott-Plumbing-Plaintiff-A.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Development Northwest, Inc. v. Zhiryada, 329 Or. App. 427<\/a>&nbsp;(December 6, 2023).&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After completing its work, the contractor issued two invoices: one for \u201cfinishing work\u201d in the amount of $13,050 and one for \u201cChange Order 6 work\u201d in the amount of $39,530.&nbsp; The owner subsequently sent the contractor a check for $13,050 along with a broad lien waiver that would have released the contractor\u2019s right to be paid for both invoices. &nbsp;The astute contractor refused to sign the broad lien waiver but proposed alternative language that would have reserved the contractor\u2019s right to payment on the invoice for the Change Order 6 work. &nbsp;When the owner insisted that the contractor sign the original lien waiver with the broad release language, the contractor returned the check to the owner, recorded its lien, and filed a complaint to foreclose the lien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial court held that the owner had made an unconditional offer of payment and dismissed the contractor\u2019s lien foreclosure claim.&nbsp; The Oregon Court of Appeals reversed after finding that the payment was conditioned on signing a broad lien waiver that the contractor was not obligated to accept:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We agree with [contractor] that the trial court erred in concluding that defendant\u2019s $13,050 check was unconditional. Under [Oregon] lien foreclosure law, a property owner may demand that a contractor waive all lien rights as to materials or supplies for which payment has been made. Under that law, a property owner may not demand a lien waiver from a contractor who has not been paid for that work unless the language of the waiver brings home to the supplier what he is releasing. Otherwise, the person making payment is entitled to a waiver of a lien only as to materials or supplies already paid for.&nbsp; Defendant was, thus, permitted to demand a broader release, but plaintiff was not obligated to, and in fact did not, agree to that broader language.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Id. at *3 (internal citations and quotations omitted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, while the owner was within its rights under Oregon law to demand an overbroad lien waiver, the contractor was equally within its rights to refuse to sign it, to return the check, and to pursue its lien.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John Mark Goodman | BuildSmart Recently, the Oregon Court of Appeals reinstated a contractor\u2019s mechanics lien claim notwithstanding the owner\u2019s offer of payment because the offer was conditioned on the contractor signing a broad lien waiver that would have released other claims.&nbsp; See,&nbsp;Development Northwest, Inc. v. Zhiryada, 329 Or. App. 427&nbsp;(December 6, 2023).&nbsp; &nbsp; After&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/contractors-refusal-to-sign-broad-lien-waiver-does-not-defeat-mechanics-lien\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Contractor\u2019s Refusal to Sign Broad Lien Waiver Does Not Defeat Mechanics Lien<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-902085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Contractor\u2019s Refusal to Sign Broad Lien Waiver Does Not Defeat Mechanics Lien - Advise &amp; 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