How do i receive a title on this car ?

Hi, I am in interest of a 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. The "owner" wants to sell it to me for $500 but, the catch is that it has no title in his possession... His story is that his girl friends father bought the car in California at a impound and they were given only ID papers and that they would be given a title later, so they got temp plates and drove it back to Illinois were they later found out that they could not get the title. So they were told to fill out a sales bond saying that the father gifted it to them and also filled out location papers and papers to transfer the title to them well, after sending those papers to California they were sent back saying that they need a emissions done on it before getting the title but the test has to be done in California , well i went online and Carfax'ed it, and it seems likes thats true but i saw it has a lien on it, so my question is, is how do i get the title of the car without going to California for it because $500 is a nice deal and i would like to get this car.

I completely agree with you Devin ....But i would contact the dealer and ask for the title. They should have transferred it over to my name already even do still owe on it.