Illinois handles electronic registration and title through the Secretary of State’s Public Electronic Registration and Titling system, known as PERT. You fill out the Application for Vehicle Transaction (Form VSD 190) online, print it, and then bring the printed form, your supporting documents, and payment to a Secretary of State facility within seven days, or mail everything to the Vehicle Services Department in Springfield. An original title costs $165, annual passenger vehicle registration is $148, and you have 20 days from a private-party purchase to apply for a new title.
What You Can Do Through PERT
PERT accepts four common transactions: original titles, title transfers, combined title-and-registration applications, and corrected titles. Mobile homes are not eligible.
Completing the online form is only the first half of the process. Once you print the application, the clock starts: you have seven days to deliver it in person to a Secretary of State facility with your documents and payment, or mail it (check or money order only) to the Vehicle Services Department in Springfield. Miss that window and you’ll need to start over.
As of October 2025, the Secretary of State sends email notifications to anyone who submits through PERT. If your application needs additional information before it can be processed, the notice arrives by email rather than by mail.
A handful of other services on the Secretary of State’s website are fully online and don’t require any facility visit: license plate renewal, address updates, and orders for replacement plates and stickers.
What Goes on the Title Application
Illinois law spells out what a title application has to contain. Under 625 ILCS 5/3-104, you need:
- Your name, Illinois residence or business address, and mailing address
- The vehicle’s make, model year, VIN, body type, and whether it’s new or used
- The purchase date, seller’s name and address, and any lienholders listed in priority order
- The odometer reading at transfer, and whether that reading reflects actual mileage, is inaccurate, or exceeds the odometer’s mechanical limits
If you bought from a dealer, the dealer signs the application and submits it. For a vehicle previously titled in another state, include the out-of-state certificate of title or equivalent ownership document. New vehicles require the Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin.
The form also includes a space to name a transfer-on-death beneficiary. If you fill that in, the vehicle passes directly to the person you name without going through probate.
The 20-Day Deadline for Private-Party Purchases
When you buy from a private party, Illinois gives you 20 days from the date you receive the vehicle and assigned title to file your title application. The seller signs the assignment section on the back of the existing title, you complete the buyer’s portion, and the paperwork goes to the Secretary of State through PERT or at a facility.
The Secretary of State will refuse to process the transfer if either the buyer or seller has unpaid fees or taxes under the Vehicle Code. Any outstanding registration fees or use taxes have to be cleared first. Letting a transfer sit past the 20-day mark leaves the vehicle titled in the seller’s name, which creates liability exposure for the seller and registration problems for the buyer.
Title and Registration Fees
The Secretary of State’s current schedule for title fees:
- Original vehicle title: $165
- Duplicate or corrected title: $50
- Salvage title: $20
- ATV or off-highway motorcycle title: $30
- Recreational vehicle title: $250
Annual registration for a standard passenger vehicle (first division, under 8,000 lbs.) is $148. Motorcycles, recreational vehicles, and commercial trucks have their own rate schedules. Replacement stickers cost $20. Replacement plates run $6 for a single plate or $9 for a set.
If a payment to the Secretary of State bounces, you still owe the original fee plus a $25 service charge. When the total is more than $100 and goes unpaid for 60 days, a 25% penalty is added to the remaining balance.
Use Tax on Private-Party Purchases
Buying a vehicle from a private party triggers a use tax. You file Form RUT-50 (Private Party Vehicle Use Tax Transaction Return) within 30 days of purchase, and you submit the form and payment to the Secretary of State together with your title application.
Purchases from licensed Illinois dealers are taxed under the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act instead, and the dealer usually handles that paperwork as part of the sale. The rates and calculations differ, so don’t assume a dealer’s quoted tax amount applies to a private-party purchase.
Some Illinois municipalities and counties charge an additional local private-party vehicle use tax on top of the state amount. The Illinois Department of Revenue’s Form RUT-6 lists which local governments impose the extra tax and how much it adds.
Electronic Liens: Mandatory in 2026
Illinois is phasing in a fully electronic system for vehicle liens. Lienholder participation in the Electronic Lien and Title (ELT) program becomes mandatory no later than July 1, 2026.
Under ELT, lenders record liens electronically instead of holding a paper title. The electronic record carries the same legal weight as lien information printed on a physical title. When you pay off a car loan, the lender transmits the release electronically to the Secretary of State, who then prints and mails a clean paper title.
One point worth knowing: a paper release cannot clear an electronic lien. If your lien was recorded through ELT, the release has to come through ELT. If your lender sends you a paper release document but the lien is electronic, contact the lender and ask them to submit the release electronically.
If You’re Buying From a Dealer
Franchised new and used vehicle dealers in Illinois have been required to submit title and registration applications electronically since January 1, 2019, either through an approved ERT service provider or directly through the Secretary of State. Dealers can process titles, registrations, lien filings and releases, salvage and junk certificates, and issue plates and stickers at the point of sale. Everything has to reach the Secretary of State within 20 days of the sale. Dealers must tell customers that electronic processing is optional on the customer’s side, but the dealer’s electronic submission itself is not.
Penalties for Driving Without Valid Registration
To drive legally on Illinois roads, your vehicle needs a current registration sticker and plate, a temporary permit, or a printed Secretary of State receipt showing you registered but haven’t received the sticker yet. The receipt is valid for 30 days.
Driving a vehicle whose registration has been cancelled, suspended, or revoked is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail. Two situations carry their own consequences:
- Registration suspended for lack of insurance: a first offense is a business offense with a mandatory fine between $1,000 and $2,000. A second or later offense is a Class B misdemeanor with the same fine range.
- Registration suspended for failing to buy a vehicle tax sticker: a business offense with a fine of more than $500 but not more than $1,000.
Clearing whatever caused the suspension, and paying any fees owed, is the only path back to a valid registration.