The problem with old cars is that unless the car has been listed as stolen, and has not been registered in the last 10 years, most State held paper work disappears from the records after 7-15 years. Once the time the records drop off, most States do not have a record of the vehicle's last registered owner.

In IL if you go through the process and get a bonded title, after that 3 year bond period, the State deems their bonded title as the original. The process includes a national stolen car title search, if the car has been processed as stolen or turns up as registered in a different state the process stops immediately. It it clears the stolen car data base, the bond process displays what they claim is a legal search for the original owner, which could be a simple statement in a local paper. Any person holding a title for the vehicle in the search has 3 years from the printed date to make a claim the vehicle. After the 3 years has passes and no one has made a claim of ownership, the State has determined that the bonded title shall be considered as the original title. IL sends you a written and dated statement that says the bond requirement time has been completed and they give you a reference number if anyone at any time challenges your title. Any person holding older dated paper work past the end of the bond time has wall art.

The bottom line is, as a vehicle owner that may have a vehicle in any kind of storage for what ever reason, it is your responsibility to be sure your car is where it is suppose to be. You probably need to go to the location every couple of years and lay your hands on it. If the storage facility can't or won't let you lay your hands on your car, you probably need to contact the local police to start the stolen car process. If the storage place won't let you look at your own car, something fishy is probably going on. Any title processing starts with a stolen car title search, if the car title number shows up in that search, the process stops, and the process to get you involved begins. However, if you have received payment for a stolen car from an insurance company, the rights to that car are no longer your rights, those rights for claim belong to the insurance company. The insurance company has the right to sell a theft recovery vehicle that they have paid out on. Usually, once an insurance company pays off on a stolen car, that title is removed from the stolen car data base. The car that was stolen from you 20 years ago that the insurance company paid you for, may well show up at a car show near you, but that guy can legally own the car now. You have no claim to it.

I don't buy many vehicles that don't have a title that matches the vehicle ID number. The few that I have bought, I have known their history dating back at least 10 years. I often talk with a former owner about the car and its history. Then before I buy it, I do the stolen car search to see if it coms back clear. Then its on to the bonded title process for me.