Brady makes electronic lien and title filing a priority in bid for secretary of state

[September 02, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – The Republican candidate for Illinois Secretary of State says he’ll be the one to finally bring about electronic lien and title, or ELT, processing to the state of Illinois.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, is running for secretary of state, which handles lien and title records. In his conversations around the state with banks, credit unions, automobile dealers and more, he’s hearing a consistent message.

“The issue of e-titling for streamlining the process, protection and storage of titles has been a frequent topic of discussion,” Brady said.

Illinois approved ELT processing for vehicles two decades ago.

“The legislative framework is already in place and first began in 2000,” Brady said during a news conference in Springfield.

The state has blown through multiple deadline extensions.

“How can over 24 other states have a process in place for electronic filing, but not Illinois,” Brady said. “This service provides the release and filing of these documents electronically to help all the stakeholders involved as efficiently as possible, especially to the consumer.”

He said bringing about ELT will reduce costs for all stakeholders.

Outgoing Secretary of State Jesse White's office said the "System became law on July 1 and we are moving forward to implement."

Brady faces Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, during a news conference in Springfield Thursday Sept. 1, 2022 - BlueRoomStream

“As with many of our proposals aimed at digitizing driver's licenses, digitizing paper-based documents and offering more online services to reduce lines, wait times and red tape," said Giannoulias campaign manager Hanah Jubeh. "Over the last 2 years, we’ve met with consumers and the auto industry to discuss e-titles and e-liens, this issue represents a crucial component of our modernization efforts, that will streamline the vehicle title and registration process for Illinois consumers."

Vehicles are among the largest purchases Illinoisans make and they should have to wait for documents, Jubeh said.

"E-titles can reduce administrative costs for both dealers and the Secretary of State’s office because the office won’t have to process, file, store or mail paper documents," Jubeh said. "In addition, using e-titles would make document handling easier, allowing faster processing instead of tedious paperwork, and would reduce the risk of fraud. This represents a win for the Secretary of State’s office, a win for dealers and - most importantly – a win for Illinois consumers.”

Brady said he has the experience to make this happen, as he did with legislating the implementation of electronic death certificate filing.

“It’s the same concept of filing something electronically so it’s done within hours versus weeks or months which is paper,” Brady said. “And I think that’s extremely important.”

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.