What is my next step?

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I am sorry about the troubles you have experienced. First, a big misunderstanding about mechanics liens is that a lien is more than just a document, but it's a process. There are certain steps a person can take after filing the actual mechanics lien. Take a look at the 4 steps that every lien claimant should take after filing their mechanics lien. 

1. Send a copy of the mechanics lien to everyone 

You should have complied with the state law mandate that mechanics liens be served to a party like the property owner or general contractor.

2. Communicate with the person most likely to pay & then call the property owner

Once the mechanics lien has been distributed to everyone on the project, you should want to follow up with phone calls with some of the key parties. The most important party is the person or company that is the most likely to pay you, which is typically the party that hired you initially to work on the project.

3. Send a Notice of Intent to Foreclose

If your phone calls or emails don't elicit payment or a payment plan, it's time to escalate the claim. You can proceed with this by sending a Notice of Intent to Foreclose. The notice can be sent by certified mail to the property owner, the prime contractor, and any other interested parties. The warning shall be considered a final warning to all interested parties on the project. The notice will tell the party that they have one more opportunity to pay or your mechanics lien will be foreclosed upon. This helps to demonstrate that you know your rights, but that you're also willing to enforce them if need be. Wait a reasonable amount of days, around seven, on your calendar for them to respond. Make another phone call or send another email if you think it is worth it. Yet, if the date comes and goes with no payment plan set up, it's time to move on to the last and final step.

4. File foreclosure lawsuit

While most mechanics lien claims get paid before a foreclosure action is ever required, there are some instances when none of the above measures work, and foreclosing on your lien claim is necessary. Escalating a lien claim to a foreclosure action is successful at getting most types of these debts paid. In order to file a foreclosure action, you will need to hire an attorney because it is a lawsuit.

Finally, remember that every state has a deadline to enforce a mechanics lien claim. In Oklahoma, an action to enforce a mechanics lien must be initiated within 1 year of the date on which the lien was recorded. However, at least 90 days must have passed from the date on which the lien was recorded prior to initiating the enforcement action.

I hope this helps! Good luck!

The first question is whether your lien is valid, meaning whether you have complied with all the steps in the process and then filed it in land records. The process is different if you are the general contractor or a subcontractor.   

If you did everything right, your next legal step is to sue. You can sue on the contract or foreclose on the lien OR BOTH - it's only an election of remedies. You can do both, but you only get the benefit of one. Since the owner is in Thailand, you'll want to foreclose on the lien. Normally, I prefer suing on the contract, but in this case, you want to get your remedy from the asset you can see and touch right here in the U.S. 

You have only one year from the date of filing to file your foreclosure action. If that time has passed, you only have the underlying contract. Also, as the previous answer indicates, you have informal steps you can take other than suing - you can make phone calls and send letters with copies of the lien to interested parties. If they pay you, you get to avoid the delay, cost, hassle, and risk of litigation. Good luck!