The Florida Senate

713.20  Waiver or release of liens.--

(1)  The acceptance by the lienor of an unsecured note for all or any part of the amount of his or her demand shall not constitute a waiver of his or her lien therefor unless expressly so agreed in writing, nor shall it in any way affect the period for filing the notice under s. 713.06(2), or the claim of lien under s. 713.08.

(2)  A right to claim a lien may not be waived in advance. A lien right may be waived only to the extent of labor, services, or materials furnished. Any waiver of a right to claim a lien that is made in advance is unenforceable.

(3)  Any person may at any time waive, release, or satisfy any part of his or her lien under this part, either as to the amount due for labor, services, or materials furnished or for labor, services, or materials furnished through a certain date subject to exceptions specified at the time of release, or as to any part or parcel of the real property.

(4)  When a lienor is required to execute a waiver or release of lien in exchange for, or to induce payment of, a progress payment, the waiver or release may be in substantially the following form:

The undersigned lienor, in consideration of the sum of $_____, hereby waives and releases its lien and right to claim a lien for labor, services, or materials furnished through  (insert date)  to  (insert the name of your customer)  on the job of  (insert the name of the owner)  to the following property:

DATED on _____,  (year) .

 (Lienor) 

By: __________

(5)  When a lienor is required to execute a waiver or release of lien in exchange for, or to induce payment of, the final payment, the waiver and release may be in substantially the following form:

The undersigned lienor, in consideration of the final payment in the amount of $__________, hereby waives and releases its lien and right to claim a lien for labor, services, or materials furnished to  (insert the name of your customer)  on the job of  (insert the name of the owner)  to the following described property:

DATED on _____,  (year) .

 (Lienor) 

By: __________

(6)  A person may not require a lienor to furnish a lien waiver or release of lien that is different from the forms in subsection (4) or subsection (5).

(7)  A lienor who executes a lien waiver and release in exchange for a check may condition the waiver and release on payment of the check. However, in the absence of a payment bond protecting the owner, the owner may withhold from any payment to the contractor the amount of any such unpaid check until any such condition is satisfied.

(8)  A lien waiver or lien release that is not substantially similar to the forms in subsections (4) and (5) is enforceable in accordance with the terms of the lien waiver or lien release.

History.--s. 1, ch. 63-135; s. 35, ch. 67-254; s. 5, ch. 88-397; s. 8, ch. 96-383; s. 1769, ch. 97-102; s. 5, ch. 97-219; s. 30, ch. 99-6.

Note.--Former s. 84.202.