Tennessee lien waiver: void, and the contractor who asked for it can owe you your attorney fees
Thirty states void an advance lien waiver. Tennessee is the only one verified on this site that also hands the person who was asked to sign it a fee shifting damages claim against the contractor who asked, and puts that contractor's license in front of a state board.
Any Tennessee contract provision that purports to waive a right of lien is void and unenforceable as against the public policy of the state, and a person solicited to give such a waiver can recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the prime or remote contractor who solicited it.
Read the law: T.C.A. section 66-11-124codes.findlaw.com
T.C.A. 66-11-124(b)(1), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.Any contract provision that purports to waive any right of lien under this chapter is void and unenforceable as against the public policy of this state.
Then (b)(2)(D): in an action for damages based on the waiver of a right of lien, brought by a person solicited by the prime contractor or remote contractor, that person has the right to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. A fee shift is what turns a rule into something worth enforcing on a small balance.
Download a blank Tennessee lien waiver
Tennessee prescribes no statutory wording, so this is the general conditional waiver on progress payment, the form that fits most draws. Print it and fill it in by hand, or use the builder below and get it back already filled in.
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The board machinery in subsection (b)(2)
Most anti waiver statutes stop at voiding the paper. Tennessee keeps going. Subsection (b)(2) is directed at the contractor who solicits the illegal waiver and runs through voluntary compliance, a hearing before the state board, and revocation of the license, with notification to the licensing authorities of other states where that contractor holds a license.
Then (b)(2)(D) adds the fee shift. A person solicited to give the waiver who brings an action for damages can recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the prime contractor or remote contractor who solicited it.
That is the practical difference. On a $14,000 unpaid balance, a rule that only voids the paper still leaves you paying an attorney out of the recovery. A fee shift changes the arithmetic of whether the claim is worth bringing at all.
Taking a note is not a waiver unless the paper says so
Subsection (a) covers a different question that comes up constantly and is almost never written about. Accepting a note or notes for all or part of the claim does not constitute a waiver of the lien, unless it is expressly so agreed in writing.
So if a general contractor who cannot pay this month offers you a note, taking it does not by itself cost you the lien. Read whatever comes with the note, because an express written agreement is the one thing that would.
The exception on bonded work
Subsection (c) is the limit worth knowing before you rely on any of this. A remote contractor has no lien where the owner has recorded a payment bond equal to one hundred percent of the prime contract price.
That is not a loss of protection so much as a substitution of one security for another: the bond is there instead of the lien. But it changes what you file and who you file it against, so on a bonded Tennessee job find out the bond details early.
Working in Tennessee below the prime contractor? The waiver rule is only half of it. notice of nonpayment makes you serve a notice of nonpayment within ninety days of the last day of every month you go unpaid, and subsection (b) says a remote contractor who fails to do it has no right to claim a lien at all.
Which of the four to sign on a Tennessee job
The statute protects you from a waiver signed before the work or before the payment. It does not protect you from one worded too broadly, or handed over against a check that later bounces, so the conditional form is still the right default.
Questions people ask
Is a lien waiver clause enforceable in a Tennessee contract?
No. T.C.A. 66-11-124(b)(1) says any contract provision purporting to waive any right of lien under the chapter is void and unenforceable as against the public policy of the state.
Can I recover attorney fees if I was pushed into a Tennessee lien waiver?
T.C.A. 66-11-124(b)(2)(D) says that in an action for damages based on the waiver of a right of lien, filed by a person solicited by the prime contractor or remote contractor, that person has the right to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs. This is not legal advice, and whether your facts fit is a question for an attorney.
Does accepting a promissory note waive a Tennessee lien?
No, not by itself. T.C.A. 66-11-124(a) says acceptance of a note or notes for all or part of the claim does not constitute a waiver of the lien unless it is expressly so agreed in writing.
Do I have a lien on a bonded Tennessee job?
Not as a remote contractor where the owner has recorded a payment bond equal to one hundred percent of the prime contract price. T.C.A. 66-11-124(c) removes the lien in that case, and the bond is the security in its place.
Working in another state? The general lien waiver forms page covers all four waiver types, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver explains which of the two to sign and when.
This page quotes T.C.A. section 66-11-124 and explains what it says. It is not legal advice, and a statute can be amended. Read the linked section before you rely on it.