(WIFR) – For the first time in Illinois, the Secretary of State’s office is making Electronic Lien and Titling (ELT) available when buying a car.

Illinois joins 25 other states that have active ELT programs. The new program allows vehicle titles to be processed, stored, and released digitally, rather than through paperwork. The new program is designed to eliminate paperwork, physical document mailing, or in-person visits to a DMV facility.

“The process has gotten so complicated now, the delivery times, just going through the papers and making sure that the disclosures and everything are taken care of properly, it can take upwards of an hour,” said Gordon Tormohlen, the president of Tormohlen’s Good People Automotive.

The Illinois General Assembly first approved ELT in 2000, but outdated technology delayed full implementation. In 2023, the Secretary of State’s Office was able to create the infrastructure to allow the program to launch.

“So doing e-filing and having e-titles and so forth will cut back on the amount of time that you process that paperwork,” said Tormohlen.

In a release, the Secretary of State’s office says the program will:

• Reduce fraud by preventing “title-washing” and fraudulent lien releases when applying for a new title
• Instead of customers waiting for lienholders to search through physical title records that may be stored for years, lienholders can now mark the title as paid, and the Secretary of State will send the released title to the owner
• Allow an individual purchasing a vehicle at a dealership to complete an online title application that determines whether the lender has opted in for ELT. If they have, an electronic copy of the paperwork is sent to the Secretary of State for review and a third-party vendor stores the electronic record until it is time to release the title

“It’s going to take awhile to get there. I mean if you think about the number of vehicles that are titled in the state of Illinois right now, it’s got to be millions and so to go from paper titles to e-titles on those it’s going to be a process that will work out through several years which I think is beneficial because it will also give the state time to perfect their process,” said Tormohlen.

The Secretary of State’s office does not charge for this service but some ELT service providers may charge fees to participating lienholders.

The first phase of the Illinois ELT program is focusing on transitioning new titles to the electronic format. The Secretary of State’s office says the future phases of the program may allow lien holders to convert existing paper titles to the electronic format and enable vehicle owners to hold their titles electronically on their phones.

More information about the ELT program can be found here.

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