Whenever a Pennsylvania construction lawyer files a Mechanics’ Lien in a Pennsylvania state court, most practitioners first brace for the oft-asserted preliminary objections raising some procedural defect under the byzantine maze that is the Pennsylvania Mechanics’ Lien Law of 1963, 49 P.S. Section 1101 et seq. (Pennsylvania Mechanics’ Lien Law). Next, practitioners file state court lien enforcement complaints, seeking to reduce their client’s mechanics’ lien to judgment, consistent with the Mechanics’ Lien Law and Rules 1651-1661 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure—a state court process, through and through.

But, what if, to your surprise, the owner files a notice of removal of your lien action to federal district court? Can you really be litigating a Pennsylvania Mechanics’ Lien Law claim in federal court? Often overlooked (or never known) is that a Mechanics’ Lien Action can be removed to federal court under certain circumstances if diversity jurisdiction exists.