Whoever is listed as the domain's registrant controls it, regardless of who paid. For .au names, the password needed to move the domain is sent only to the registrant's contact email, and can't be redirected. If your developer registered it under their own name or email, they're the one who has to transfer it or change the registrant to you. Ask them in writing, and keep records of what you paid for.
What's the problem
Your business's domain was set up by a developer or agency, under their account. Now they've gone quiet, you've parted ways, or you just want control, and the registrar won't talk to you because you're not on the record.
Why it happens
- It was quicker for them. Registering the domain in the developer's own account saved a step at the start.
- Registrars only deal with the registrant. Recovery emails, transfer passwords and renewal notices go to the contact on record, by design, so a stranger can't take your domain. Here, that protection works against you.
- .au names have their own rules. auDA, which administers
.au, publishes licensing rules on who can hold a name, and only sends the domain's password to the registrant's email.
How to fix it
- Look up who holds it. A WHOIS lookup (for
.au, auDA's lookup) shows the registrar, and sometimes the registrant. - Ask the developer, in writing, to either transfer the domain into an account in your business's name or change the registrant to you, and to send you the transfer password.
- Keep evidence that the domain was bought for your business: invoices, emails, the brief.
- If they won't cooperate, contact the registrar with your evidence and ask what they need. For
.aunames, auDA publishes the rules and complaint processes. Get legal advice if it comes to a dispute. - Once it's yours, update the registrant contact details, turn on two-factor login and auto-renew, and point the domain's records at your hosting.
- Do the same for every other account in their name: hosting, app stores, email services. See what should my developer hand over.
When to call Preventionlabs
Getting the domain back is between you, your developer and the registrar, and we can't do it for you. Call us once you have it, when the app behind it needs bringing back. We deploy into your own hosting account, and at handover you control every account we set up, with our access removed, so this doesn't happen again.
Submit your project for a free assessmentFree assessment. $10,000 AUD flat to get it live, only if we take it on and you go ahead.
Sources
- auDA: Additional .au domain services.au domain administrator
The password information is sent to the domain name holder (registrant) contact email address listed in the .au registry database so it's important that your registrant contact information is up to date.
- auDA: Additional .au domain services.au domain administrator
This email will only be sent to the registrant contact email address – the email you listed when registering your .au domain name – and cannot be redirected to another email address.
- MDN Web Docs: Publishing your websiteweb reference
This is usually done by logging into your domain registrar's website, and setting your domain's nameservers to the ones provided by your hosting company.