Florida Statute 713.20 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XL
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY

Chapter 713
LIENS, GENERALLY

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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:

WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIEN
UPON PROGRESS PAYMENT

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:

(description of property)

This waiver and release does not cover any retention or labor, services, or materials furnished after the date specified.

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:

WAIVER AND RELEASE OF LIEN
UPON FINAL PAYMENT

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:

(description of 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.

F.S. 713.20 on Google Scholar

F.S. 713.20 on CourtListener

Amendments to 713.20

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 713.20

Total Results: 10 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Mills v. Robert W. Gottfried, Inc., 272 So. 2d 837 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973).

Cited 21 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal

...dgment as plaintiff may obtain. The right to a lien may be waived expressly or by implication, but before such an important right is deemed to have been waived by the implication of one's conduct, the implication should be clear and unambiguous. See Section 713.20, F.S....

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Am. Cas. Co. v. Coastal Caisson Drill Co., 542 So. 2d 957 (Fla. 1989).

Cited 18 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 14 Fla. L. Weekly 111, 1989 Fla. LEXIS 180, 1989 WL 23396

...e L.J. 1, 16 (1928) (footnote omitted). Besides being in the public's financial interest, keeping subcontractors secure also lessens the risk of delay caused by litigation. American argues that this Court should consider the mechanics' lien statute, section 713.20(2), Florida Statutes (1987), in construing the waiver of rights under section 255.05 because the payment bond is merely a substitute for a mechanics' lien. [1] A subcontractor is free to waive its mechanics' lien, thus, according to American, Coastal should have been free to do likewise. Section 713.20(2) formerly provided that anyone, other than a laborer, could waive a mechanics' lien at any time....

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Gessa v. Manor Care of Florida, Inc., 86 So. 3d 484 (Fla. 2011).

Cited 6 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 36 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 676, 2011 Fla. LEXIS 2765, 2011 WL 5864823

unwaivable the right to claim a lien before it matures. § 713.20(2), Fla. Stat. (2004) (“A right to claim a lien

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Stock Bldg. Supply of Florida, Inc. v. Soares Da Costa Constr. Servs., LLC, 76 So. 3d 313 (Fla. 3d DCA 2011).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 15728, 2011 WL 4578320

...al amount of $174,782.84. This lien was satisfied by the Owner in March of 2006 and K & A executed a Satisfaction and Waiver and Release of Lien on Final Payment. The Waiver and Release of Lien executed by K & A was identical to the form provided in section 713.20(5), Florida Statutes (2005), for execution by lienors upon final payment of a lien....

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Grant v. Lathan Constr. Corp. (In Re Constr. Contractors of Ocala, Inc.), 196 B.R. 188 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1996).

Cited 2 times | Published | United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida

...At trial, debtor's representative testified that he was pressured into signing the releases. Plaintiff, however, failed to offer substantial proof of duress and the Court finds this argument unpersuasive. A release of lien is an enforceable document. Fla.Stat. 713.20 (1995)....

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Orlando Ctr Park, Inc. v. Master Door Co., Inc., 303 So. 2d 685 (Fla. 4th DCA 1974).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal

...aiver of lien should be strictly construed in favor of the party which claims a lien right. The court concluded that, thus considered, the waiver of lien provision of paragraph 2 of the subcontract was ambiguous, and it denied the motion to dismiss. Section 713.20(2), F.S....

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Anzac Contractors, Inc. v. Team Land Dev., Inc., 847 So. 2d 1037 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 7081, 2003 WL 21076793

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge. Conditioned on compliance with the stipulation in open court that the sums in question will be disbursed by the appellees to the appellant Anzac Contractors upon the tender of a section 713.20(5), Florida Statutes (2000), release, thus satisfying the condition precedent to Anzac’s entitlement under the parties’ agreement, as explained in Team Land Development, Inc....

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Bracco v. Cardozo, 434 So. 2d 1024 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 1983 Fla. App. LEXIS 19902

...7 affidavit, will not be fulfilled. We cannot accept appellees’ argument. In support of their contention, appellees cite Climatrol Corp. As appellant asserts, however, Climatrol Corp. is inapplicable. The affidavit there was a release of lien, see section 713.20, not a contractor’s affidavit, as here....

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Spectrum Interiors, Inc. v. Exterior Walls, Inc., 2 So. 3d 1093 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009).

Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 3197, 2009 WL 347745

release of lien” like the one set forth in section 713.20, Florida Statutes. Rather, it is denominated

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Wool Wholesale Plumbing Supply, Inc. v. Abdo, 365 So. 2d 216 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978).

Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 1978 Fla. App. LEXIS 16871

of a partial release of lien, filed pursuant to § 713.20(2), (3), Fla.Stat. (1975), which purported to

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