Virginia Lien Release
The Lien You Are Releasing
Pull your stamped copy of the lien — everything on this page is on it. If the details here do not match the instrument on record, the release does not release it, and no one at the counter will catch that for you.
This instrument says the debt is paid.
Va. Code §§ 43-67, 55.1-339, 55.1-342 discharges the lien on satisfaction of the debt. Signing it while money is still owed puts a false statement on the public record and gives away the security you filed to protect. If you have been paid part of it, this is not the document you want — talk to a construction attorney about what is.
Where this gets filed: Clerk of the Circuit Court. The clerk's office of the circuit court of the county or city where the memorandum of mechanic's lien was filed under § 43-4.
NINETY DAYS FROM PAYMENT, with no demand required, and the forfeiture is $500 to the lien obligor (§ 55.1-339(B)(1)). It is satisfied only by delivery to the clerk WITH THE RECORDING FEE — by certified mail return receipt requested, or with written proof of receipt by hand delivery, the clerk's e-filing system, or a commercial overnight or USPS service with a receipt — or by delivery to the settlement agent. Signing the certificate or handing it to the owner does not stop the clock. And the $500 is not the end of it: if the forfeiture goes unpaid for ten business days after written demand sent by certified mail to the address in the payoff statement, the lien creditor also pays the obligor's court costs and reasonable attorney fees. No settlement agent or attorney may take an assignment of the right to the $500. An assignee or subsequent holder of the debt is bound by the same requirements and the same penalty (§ 55.1-339(B)(2)).