Illinois asks a titling applicant to say, on the record and in front of a notary, whether a vehicle took damage in a natural disaster - and how much. It is short, it is notarised, and it ends by asking the Secretary of State to issue a clean title on the strength of what you have written.
Written against VSD 694 (VSD 694.6, October 2022), issued under 625 ILCS 5/3-117.1.
There is a companion form for the case where a previous owner should have completed this and did not - VSD 931, the Affidavit in Lieu of Natural Disaster Disclosure Statement. If you are buying a car with a gap in its history, that is the one to ask about.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VSD 694 from the ilsos.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual VSD 694, rendered from the PDF the Illinois Secretary of State publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The actual VSD 694, completed for a car that came through a disaster area untouched - which is the commonest honest answer and still has to be given. The two percentage boxes are washed out here because neither applies; when one does, the blank beside it is not optional.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Year, Make, VIN
Three boxes across the vehicle row.
Watch out: There is no model box and no body type. This form identifies the car by its VIN and leaves the rest brief.
2
You fill this in
Where did you purchase this vehicle?
One line of free text.
Watch out: Be specific - an auction house, a dealer, a private seller, a town. This is the question a clerk reads first, because a disaster-area purchase is what the form is watching for.
3
You fill this in
The clean answers
Was not in a natural disaster area; sustained no physical damage; sustained no water damage.
Watch out: These are separate boxes, not one. A car that sat in a flooded county but stayed dry is described by the second and third, not the first.
4
You fill this in
The two percentage boxes
Sustained minor water damage of ____ per cent; sustained minor physical damage of ____ per cent, no total loss.
Watch out: Both need a figure. And both use the word minor, which is a claim about severity you are making under penalty of perjury.
5
You fill this in
Other
A free-text box for anything the five above do not describe.
Watch out: Better a sentence here than a tick that is nearly right. The disclaimer at the foot means the state relies on what you wrote.
6
You fill this in
Name, signature, date and address
Printed name, signature and date on one row, address beneath.
Watch out: Print and sign, both. The certification requests an Illinois clean title on the strength of it.
7
You fill this in
The notary
State, county, the date, and the notary's signature.
Watch out: Signed and attested before me - so the notary has to see you sign. Turning up with it already signed wastes the trip.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle Information
Year, make and vehicle identification number across one row.
Where did you purchase this vehicle?
One free-text box, and it is the question that gives the rest of the form its point.
The disclosure boxes
Six of them, and two carry a percentage: was not in a natural disaster area; sustained no physical damage; sustained no water damage; sustained minor water damage of a stated percentage; sustained minor physical damage of a stated percentage, no total loss; and other.
Name of Applicant, Signature and Date
Three boxes on one row at the foot.
Address
Beneath the signature row.
The notary block
State, county, the date signed and attested before me, and the notary's signature.
What gets this one rejected
•Ticking a box that contradicts another. Was not in a natural disaster area and sustained minor water damage cannot both be true.
•Writing minor damage with no percentage. Two of the six boxes carry a blank for a figure and the form wants it filled in.
•Skipping where the vehicle was purchased. A car bought at auction two states away is precisely the case this form was written for.
•Signing before you reach the notary. The block reads signed and attested before me on ______.
•Reading the last paragraph as a guarantee. It says the opposite: on issuing an unbranded certificate of title, the office or its authorised agents assume no responsibility or liability for any vehicle found to have actually sustained damages.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Minor is a claim, not a description. The two boxes that admit damage both say minor and both demand a percentage. Choosing them is a positive statement that the damage fell short of a total loss - and, under penalty of perjury, that the figure you wrote is right.
•It is a request, not a report. The certification is phrased as an ask: the applicant affirms the information is true and correct, and hereby requests the Office of the Secretary of State to issue an Illinois clean title. That framing is why the disclaimer at the foot exists.
Every line here was read off VSD 694 (VSD 694.6, October 2022) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Illinois Secretary of State pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
