Title Information Vehicle Services

Exceptions to Illinois Title Requirements

The Illinois Vehicle Code requires that all owners of vehicles in this state which have no Illinois Certificate of Title shall apply to the Secretary of State. Exceptions to this provision are vehicles:

• Owned by the State of Illinois;
• Owned by the United States and not registered in this state;
• Owned by a manufacturer or dealer and held for sale, even though incidentally moved on the highway or used for purposes of testing or demonstration;
• Owned by a non-resident of this state and not required by law to be registered in this state;
• Regularly used in the interstate transportation of persons or property and for which currently effective certificates of title have been issued in another state;
• Moved solely by animal power;
• Operated as implements of husbandry; and
• Operated as special mobile equipment.

Illinois Title Security Features

Illinois is one of the leading jurisdictions in employing security features in the production of Certificates of Title.

More than three million Illinois Titles are computer-generated annually. They are printed on water marked security paper, which is extremely difficult to counterfeit. A security thread is incorporated into the paper in the same location on all certificates. Further, the Lincoln figure located in the lower right-hand bottom corner of each title document is printed in thermochromic ink as an additional security feature.

Before the security features were added, several hundred counterfeit or altered Illinois titles were discovered each year. Since June 1978, when secure paper and lamination strips were introduced, there has been a decrease in altered and counterfeit Illinois titles.

To determine whether a vehicle has been stolen, vehicle information is processed through the National Crime Information Center and Law Enforcement LEADS "Hotcheck."