I am sorry for the issues. To foreclose (enforce the lien),
you must file a judicial foreclosure in superior court where the real property
is located. You must file the foreclosure lawsuit within six months from the
recording date of the notice and claim of lien. You then must record the lis
pendens within five days of filing the foreclosure complaint. A.R.S. § 12-1191.
You must satisfy both the six-month and five-day deadlines. Failure to timely
file the foreclosure suit and file a notice of pendency within the six-month
period automatically extinguishes the lien.
Superior court is complicated and, ideally, you should have
an attorney provide a full representation. If you cannot afford that or want to
do this yourself, you can find general information and forms here https://www.azcourts.gov/selfservicecenter.
The Maricopa county resources are here https://superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/llrc/self-help-resources/.
For other counties, check your judicial website for their resources. For fee
waivers, review this https://www.azcourts.gov/courtfilingfees.
Nolo has good articles and books that may help you prepare https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/representing-yourself.
You can search for cases here https://scholar.google.com/.
Arizona rules of procedure are here https://bit.ly/2Nfj5kx.
If you cannot afford an attorney under a full representation
or you prefer to do this yourself but with the opportunity to get legal advice
as needed, along the lines of a coach in some ways, you should consider hiring
an attorney as needed under a limited representation. This provides a general
overview and some Q&As on this type of representation https://bit.ly/2RaeHEP. Our office and others
offer these services so reach out and see if this option makes sense for you
and this matter.
I hope it works out and I wish you all the best.