If you owe enough money to a a creditor and the creditor goes after you and sues you in court then yes the creditor could put a lien on your house.
The creditor would have to take you to court first and have the judge order a lien be put onto your house until you pay off the debt owed to the creditor.
So the creditor cannot just go and put a lien on your house without taking you to court first and the creditor must take you to court and sue you for the debt within 7 years of the debt.
Once 7 years have passed and the creditor hasn't sued you then they cannot force you to pay back the debt owed.
Also if the debt has been sent to a debt collector then in reality the debt has been paid off to the original company you owed the money too.
When the company sells your debt to a debt collector they sell your debt for pennies on the dollar and then they write off your debt.
And paying a debt collector doesn't always improve your credit score because not all debt collectors will report your debt as paid unless you get it in writing that they will.
If you do get a lien put on your house due to a debt collector or creditor then you need to pay the debt owed to keep the house from being taken from you.