When a property owner or a higher-tier party asks you to sign a lien waiver, it is very important that you know exactly what you are signing. A lien waiver revokes your lien rights over a certain amount of your services, and you should not sign away your lien rights unless you are absolutely sure that that’s what you want to do.
In Nevada, you must sign a specific type of lien waiver form for it to be considered valid. This guide talks about the details you need to know about the Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver, including how to fill out the form and the best practices to take note of.
When do you use a Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver?
A Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver must be used when you meet the following criteria:
a. You are waiting to receive your payment.
Using a conditional type of lien waiver is perfect when you still have not received payment. This is because a conditional lien waiver is effective only by the moment you receive the money, so you will not lose your lien rights and run the risk of not getting paid altogether.
b. You are expecting your final payment in the project.
Use this Nevada lien waiver when you are done with your work in the project and you are expecting to receive your last paycheck. You may include the disputed claims in the form, as you will see later on, but as long as you are finished with the project, the Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver is the right waiver for you.
How to fill out a Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver?
You may not use just any type of lien waiver in Nevada. Your Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver has to be exactly the same as what is prescribed in Nevada Revised Statutes § 108.2457:
You may not add your own customized provisions to the form above and you are not allowed to modify it in any way, except for adding the information that must be written above the blanks:
- Property name
Write the official name of the project. Write the street address of the project location if there is no designated project name.
- Property location
Write the street address of the project location. A legal property description may be written too but it is generally not a requirement.
- Undersigned’s customer
Write the name of the party who hired you and make sure to spell their business name(s) correctly.
- Invoice/payment application number
Write the invoice or payment application number that applies to the final paycheque that you are about to receive.
- Payment amount
Write the amount of the final payment that you will be receiving, and make sure this amount matches the amount listed on the invoice referenced above.
- Amount of disputed claims
Write the amount that is being disputed, if any. This amount is the amount that you and the hiring party have not agreed on. You may try to recover this amount by filing a Nevada mechanics lien.
- Date
Write the date when you sign the lien waiver.
- Company name
Write the name of your company or business and verify that it is spelled correctly.
- Your or your agent’s name (By)
Write your name and signature, or let your authorized agent write their name and signature.
- Your or your agent’s title (Its)
Write your job title or the job title of your authorized agent.
Best practices before signing a Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver
1. Ensure that you are using the correct Nevada lien waiver
This guide is specifically for a Nevada Conditional Final Payment Waiver, which you should use when you do not yet have payment on hand and when you are about to receive your final paycheck, not including the disputed claims, if any. Consider using another type of Nevada lien waiver if your work on a project is still ongoing.
2. Ensure that you are using Nevada’s statutory conditional final payment waiver form
Make sure that you use the lien waiver form that is pursuant to what is written under Nevada’s statutes. Choosing to customize your own form, or modifying the statutory Nevada lien waiver form, will result in an invalid lien waiver. Make sure that you correct the correct Nevada Conditional Final Payment form to avoid any issues.
3. Ensure that all pieces of information in your lien waiver are accurate
It is a good business practice to always verify the correctness and accuracy of the information that you write on any lien-related document. The names must be spelled correctly. It is a minor but common mistake to not include the suffix of a business name (e.g. Ltd. or Inc.) so make sure that you write those. Also, ensure that the amounts that you write are correct and that you have the documentary proofs (e.g. invoices) to back them up.
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