We did work on a customers home, her insurance company was a nightmare and she was little help. We took her to civil court which got the insurance company to finally pay the bill. The insurance paid the home owner not us, the customer is now refusing to pay us. She has admitted she has been paid and is not refusing to communicate .. We've never had to follow through on a lien on home, we were either paid, or filed the lien because the home was put up for sale, then we were paid through closing.
I am sorry for the issues. Foreclosing a lien is done by judicial foreclosure. The action is commenced by filing a foreclosure complaint in superior court. You then must record a lis pendens with the county recorder for the county where the real property is located within five days of filing the foreclosure complaint. The hope is that she will default and then you use tools to collect but that is not guaranteed.