Arkansas Lien Waiver Rules
- Rules At A Glance
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No Specific Form
Arkansas does not require any specific or statutory lien waiver form. Any form may be used.
Notarization Not Required
Arkansas lien waivers are not required to be notarized, and should not be notarized.
Can Waive Rights in Contract
There is no statutory provision or case law in Arkansas that specifically prohibits waiving future lien rights through contract.
Can Waive Rights Before Payment
There is no statutory provision or case law in Arkansas that prohibits waiving future lien rights through contract. And there are cases suggesting this is allowed.
Lien waivers are pretty complex documents. But they are also unassuming because of how frequently they get exchanged on construction jobs across the country. A lien waiver is basically a receipt that payment has been made for work or materials on a job. These documents are exchanged at the time of payment, and commonly attached to subcontractor pay applications or vendor invoices.
There are different types of lien releases for different types of situations. And these documents have significant consequences for everyone on a job — as it connects directly to everyone’s right to cash! Also, one pesky aspect of lien waivers is that the process of sending, requesting, tracking, and collecting lien waivers is an administrative pain that slows down the payment on a project.
Knowing everything you can about lien waivers will allow you to make your process faster. And if your process is faster, your cash will move faster; and that’s good news for everyone on the project!
- For more on lien waivers in general, see: The Ultimate Guide to Lien Waivers in Construction
Arkansas lien waiver laws
Lien waivers are not regulated in Arkansas. However, case law suggests that these documents (also called lien releases or releases) are treated just like any other contractual document. When it comes to contracts, parties can agree to pretty much anything they want so long as the agreement is clear, and not contrary to public policy.
In Arkansas, therefore, when parties exchange a lien waiver, they ought to look very closely at what is being agreed upon. While it may be tempting to try and use the lien waiver moment to gain new legal rights, all participants should be careful since there are public policy protections in favor of contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers with respect to their lien rights.
As such, good, clean, standard lien waiver forms and language is an Arkansas best practice…but, if the parties do sign something wonky, it can turn into an expensive problem. Below are some frequently asked questions about the lien waiver laws and requirements in Arkansas.
