The Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston recently issued an opinion that will have profound impacts on mineral liens and contractual provisions purporting to waive mineral liens. The question of whether or not a pre-work contractual mineral lien

waiver is enforceable is rooted in 2011 amendments made to Chapter 53 of the Property Code (the Mechanic’s and Materialman’s Lien chapter). Those amendments added section 53.286, which provides “[n]otwithstanding any other law and except as provided by § 53.282 [the statutory lien waiver forms], any contract, agreement, or understanding purporting to waive the right to file or enforce any lien or claim created under this chapter is void as against public policy.” This prohibition nullified many contractual lien waiver provisions in construction contracts.