I find that very strange, unless they just purchased it not many years ago.

Or...
Around here, a lot of people will take a vehicle title in to one of those title loan places to get as much cash as they can, never intending to pay it back. Then after a few years they try to sell the vehicle, thinking they can just get a duplicate title. Once they get the duplicate, they discover the loan company has put a lean on it and will get paid before they sign off.