Yes a debt collector can go to court and sue you in court over a huge debt and then put a lien on your house or other assets to pay back the debt owed.
The debt collector can also win a judgement against you and force you to sell your home to pay the debt off or even garnish your wages or take money out of your bank account through a court order to pay back the debt owed.
Usually though the debt you owe would have to be around $5,000.00 or more before a debt collector goes to the route of putting a lien on your house or suing you in court for garnishing your wages etc.
So if you have a huge debt to a loan company or credit card company etc then you need to work things out with the debt collector to get the debt paid back before you go to court.
When you go to court and get sued and they win a judgement against you then that will affect your credit score and ability to get future loans or credit cards etc.