A student loan may be owed to either the federal government or a private lender. The federal government may place a lien on your property for a debt in any state. A private lender's ability to do so, however, depends upon your state laws.
You may be able to discharge your student loan through bankruptcy prior to the property lien being filed. To do so you must prove that, due to a hardship, you are unable to pay the student loan and will continue to be unable to pay it in the future.
You will be notified of the impending property lien beforehand and given the option to pay off your defaulted student loan to prevent the lien from occurring. The time you have to do this varies by state.
Each state has a statute of limitations for property liens. After the statute of limitations expires, the lien will no longer be in effect.
After a property lien is in place, you will be unable to sell your home and receive any profit from the sale until the amount of the lien is paid in full.