Must a property owner be warned 1st that a lien is proposed on his property for past due debt, or can Lawyer just place lien?

I was never warned that a lien was being placed on my condo for alleged default of maint fees. I was never advised of this "alleged default" nor was I contacted by anyone that these fees were past due by either the condo assoc or a collection agency. I was only notified one time by the attorney for the condo assoc that there was a lien being filed for "alleged" past due maint. fees PLUS enormous legal/collection fee's? I wrote to the attorney to explain that I had record of endorsed and deposited checks in payment of what they were claiming was not paid and also testimony from the accounts receivable department that they did experience problems with their accounting software and some payments were not recorded/posted in a timely manner. I was late a couple of months however I had resolved most past due months before I was ever aware of a lien being processed. I had no chance to explain or defend the action. What responsibilities does a creditor and/or their attorney have prior to starting a lien process? If there are none, it would seem that attorney's would take over collection agencies, do their thing and the court would allow heavy fees to the lawyer without recourse from the property owner. What is the legal criterion to begin the lien process and what rights does the property owner have?