Whoever is listed as the registrant of a domain is the one the rules treat as its holder. If a hosting company or agency registers a client’s domain with its own details, the agency is the holder, and the client is only a customer. That works until something changes: a client leaves, a dispute starts, or the agency is sold.
This post is about information, and not legal advice. If you have a specific case, talk to a lawyer.
The car in the garage’s name
Imagine you buy a car, and the garage registers it in its own name “to make things easier”. The car is parked in your driveway and you drive it every day. It works perfectly. Then you move to another garage, and discover that the car is not yours.
That is the situation when an agency registers a domain in its own name for a client. Everything works, until the day it matters who the registrant is.
Why the registrant matters
The registrant is the person or company that holds the right to the domain under the registry’s rules. In practice, that means:
- The registrant decides about transfers and renewals.
- Notices about the domain, including expiry and data verification, go to the registrant’s contact details.
- In a dispute, the complaint is usually against the registrant.
- The registrant is responsible for keeping the contact data accurate, and a domain can be suspended if it is not.
ICANN publishes a summary of registrant benefits and responsibilities that is worth reading once.
Three models
1. The agency is the registrant. The agency registers every domain with its own details. It is simple to run, and the client has no registrant tasks to do.
- Upside: fewer verification emails for clients, and full control for you.
- Risks: the client does not legally hold the domain. If the client leaves or you disagree, they have to ask you. If your business changes hands or fails, the client’s domain goes with it. In a dispute, you are the defendant.
2. The client is the registrant. The client’s name and details go on the domain, and you manage it through your reseller account.
- Upside: clear ownership, easy exit, and the client can prove it.
- Risks: the client has to respond to verification emails, keep their data current, and may ignore messages. A domain can be suspended because a client did not read an email.
3. A split. You use the first model for some products and the second for others, for example for your own sites and for client sites.
- Upside: flexibility.
- Risk: confusion. Without a clear record, nobody knows which domain is in which model.
I am not going to tell you which one to choose. I do think the choice should be made on purpose, and not found out later.
What to put in your terms
If you work with clients, your terms should say:
- Who the registrant is, for each kind of domain
- That the client may transfer the domain away on request, and how
- Who pays renewals, and what happens if they are not paid
- Who keeps the contact data accurate, and how you will help
- What happens to the domain if the contract ends
Have a lawyer look at the wording. The post on client domain records shows what to keep for each client, and reusable contacts explains how to prepare contact data.
What to record
For every client domain, keep a line with:
- The domain and the client
- The registrant of record
- The contact address for registry notices, and who reads it
- The renewal responsibility and date
- Where the domain is registered
If the record is a spreadsheet, that is fine. A spreadsheet that exists is better than a system that does not.
Check your own domains
Pick your five largest client domains. Look up who the registrant is for each of them. If the answer surprises you, you have just found the most useful five minutes of your week.
If you sell domains through WHMCS, the domain resale guide explains the workflow. When something goes wrong with a transfer, the post on transfer-in failures is the place to start. The page for hosting companies and agencies has more.
Questions people ask
Can I register a domain in my own name for a client? You can, but the client will not be the registrant, and that has consequences. Decide on purpose and put it in writing.
What happens if the client wants to leave? It depends on who the registrant is and on your contract. If you are the registrant, the client needs your cooperation.
Who receives the expiry notices? The contact address on the domain. Make sure somebody reads it.
Is this legal advice? No. It is general information.
Sources
If you have run into this in practice, tell me what happened, in the chat on the website.
/Thomas