check on a title surety bond. They can issue you a title if you pay a small bond amount and if no one comes forward and claims it in 3 years then you get a regular title. The title will be marked Bonded title until then, but you could get a tag. I was going to buy a truck a year or so ago without a title but i knew the owner and he wasn't able to go to the courthouse to apply for a lost title due to health problems and this is what i was told to do.