Warning!! OUTRAGEOUS behavior by GoDaddy!!!

Don't you think GD should be aware of any debts on the domains they register, at the time of a transfer from one person to another?

Seems to me that if they were the company it was registered with, and they were owed fees, they should have known it when they decided to transfer it to a new owner.

-Dani

Heh, it just feels conveniently easier to blame someone for doing what one feels
is outrageous. Unfortunately, that's also easy to feel if one doesn't totally know,
much more care, what went on behind the scenes, and that's inspite of trying to
explain.

I notice Evita hasn't been here for the past two days, so I hope she's decided to
try working this out...unless she's since moved on.

Indeed. They'll probably address that soon after, though it's unfortunate (sigh)
to do so after something like this happens.

Okay, my mistake. Sorry.

Can someone explain exactly what fees we are talking about?

CD,

If there is a lien ON the asset in question, the lien holder will have possession of the Title to it, not the seller you are dealing with.

Clear title IS a lender requirement when using a 'loan' to secure the purchase of an asset, however it is ALSO a matter of 'RECORD' because a lien holder, holds titles, as collateral, therefore a seller will not have possession of that title, to convey to you.

Now, I admit, I've seen a few 'uneducated' people hand over money without receiving a 'title/deed', and their 'lack of education' is responsible for that and, for not knowing to check a title for liens first, but those cases have been few and far between.

This generally happens with the sales of assets like cars and boats, and occasionally in real estate transactions involving any type of 'owner financing,' 'wraparound mortgage' driven sales in which the 'buyer' may not be aware of things like title searches that discover liens, and the title insurance policies that cover any liens found after the transaction has occured, but again, this comes back to an 'uneducated buyer.'

-Dani

P.S. Generally, the sale of these types of assets are facilitated by a 3rd party, such as a title company, and THEY, not YOU, use the protocol to discover the underlying debts and explicitly arrange their disposition.The facilitator takes buyers money, pays off any liens against the asset, and gives proceeds to the seller.
Any circumstances in which you as buyer must to title research, are much rarer than traditional ways of buying assets. i.e, getting mortgages, loans, etc.

As I was using a example of how my country work we don't do it the USA way. I don't live in the good ol USA.

Read post #13


Nothing to do with an expired domain.

Alright, it's time for me to give a detailed reply as well. While some of you can
find some of my comments here maybe silly, my intent is to help understand
certain things.

First, every domain registrar is billed by an authoritative Registry (a higher power
in a manner of speaking) for every registration, renewal and transfer of a domain
name they accept within their system. That's been going on since day one.

Assuming Go Daddy really wasn't able to get any payment owed for the domain
name the OP bought from that DigitalPoint/DP user, they actually lost money
on that. When you lose money providing a service like this, you'll maybe want
to cut off that loss. (except if you perhaps choose to eat it...)

As to how something as absurd as Go Daddy not finding out sooner that they
still have money due them for that domain name, well...I've seen similar kinds
of stuff like that occur with some other companies in other fields. Someone I
know told me his email provider actually didn't bill him for a few months, yet
was still able to use their services until it was finally discovered and later paid.

That's not an excuse, of course. I'm just saying that stuff happens.

Now, some folks discussed things like property, assets, titles and the like. As a
few already said, read your registrar's contract.

In virtually every one of them, you're going to find all of them say that you do
not really own the domain name, be given title or property rights, etc. While I
have seen some decisions saying a domain name is property for this or that or
so or such, none declared they're property for any situation whatsoever.

I hate to say this, but you'll also find all of them state something like they can
take the domain name from you for whatever reason. You just won't find them
doing that without an arguably valid reason and risk their reputation over it,
though Go Daddy's isn't exactly and necessarily stellar either.

Also assuming the OP's account is right that Go Daddy didn't seemingly try to
resolve it with her before taking the name outright, I also find that deplorable.
In my ex-registrar life, we've had very few (and unfortunate) cases of taking
back a customer's domain name inspite of sincere efforts at trying to resolve
them.

One scenario would be something like this:

1. A registers and pays for said domain name with registrar.

2. A eventually sells said domain name to B. B pays A in full, and the domain is
transferred to B.

3. A actually disputes the payment with the registrar...and succeeds. Absurd
also, I know, but...again...I've seen that happen.

4. So registrar takes the domain name from B, and A runs off with B's money.

5. Registrar finds they're owed money for the name, and eventually takes that
back from B inspite of trying to work things out.

I give that scenario because I'm suspecting that's what happened to Evita. I
also saw some DP users complain about that happening to them, or something
like the domain name turned out to have been stolen and sold to them.

Sadly, this is a no-win situation. Someone had to make a choice, and someone
is obviously not going to be happy.

The least Go Daddy could do is refund Evita's money for the privacy service. I
honestly doubt they'll do more after that, but...one can hope.

If anything, it might've helped if the domain owner's background was checked.
Sometimes it's easier said than done, though.

Finally, this actually can happen with any registrar you deal with. You just do
not hear about this often, much more reported.

Be vigilant, everybody. If it's any consolation, you're not alone.