Have you leased out domain names?

[Gerry]

I have had an inquire about a domain name.

For those that have leased out a domain name;

• Do you have an example of the agreement?
• What is the typical term length?
• Is there a clause added regarding sale of domain during this period or is the domain essentially (or virtually) taken out of circulation and off the market during the lease period?
• Have you ever been involved in a situation almost akin to a lease to own where the lessee is essentially making a payment towards the purchase price of the name?

Please, only those that have direct hands on with this process respond.

 

[Theo]

I can answer the part of the "lease to own"; the contract must describe what happens to all the payments made towards the total if the lease is ended due to non-payment. A usual practice is to return the money, minus a predetermined fee, either a fixed amount or a percentage. The agreement/contract can be straightforward or complicated depending on minute terms the seller/buyer wish to include. Your best option is to agree on such terms and have a lawyer draft the contract.

 

[Biggie]

I have had an inquire about a domain name.

For those that have leased out a domain name;

• Do you have an example of the agreement?
• What is the typical term length?
• Is there a clause added regarding sale of domain during this period or is the domain essentially (or virtually) taken out of circulation and off the market during the lease period?
• Have you ever been involved in a situation almost akin to a lease to own where the lessee is essentially making a payment towards the purchase price of the name?

Please, only those that have direct hands on with this process respond.

leased out a couple of names

but no copy of agreement


it was very basic 1 year lease via email


they agree to pay a fixed amount every month, with so many months in advance.
they are to abide by certain restrictions on usage of domain, and it's use for a specific purpose.


i agree to set ns to their choice for the pre-determined period.

since they were leasing for a specific period, then there was no need to add a clause to sell to them or any other interested party.

but they decided to just buy the domains at the original quoted price, after a few months of leasing it.

so i got the price, plus a couple of months lease payments

i added in the email originally, that the first payment they send, constitutes an agreement to the lease terms.

hope that helps

 

[Gerry]

The agreement/contract can be straightforward or complicated depending on minute terms the seller/buyer wish to include. Your best option is to agree on such terms and have a lawyer draft the contract.

I want to keep it simple if we come to an agreement.

An email agreement may suffice but have a JD's eyes view it.

 

[Seraphim]

I have half a dozen domains leased currently using the actual domain.com, and then hundreds of sub-domain and email lease contracts.

- My lease contact is in Polish, I didn't write it, the previous domain owner had it professionally drafted by a lawyer (I bought the domains with the contracts). Basically it guarantees uninterrupted services, even in the event the domains are sold. I obviously retain the right to terminate the services of anyone abusing the domain (I absolutely do not allow any non family safe content to be published on any domain I own). There is an explicit notice that the domain itself is solely owned by my company, and that using it in no way establishes a right to ownership. All leasees are required to ink their name to it. The contracts are years old, and to date I have never had any problems, other than late payments.

- I offer 1 year terms only, my rates are cheap.

- As mentioned above, I guarantee uninterrupted services even if the domain is sold. I'm obviously then legally bound to ensure any new owner honors the current contracts, though obviously they can terminate them once they expire.

- Never done lease to own. The leasees always ask if they can buy the domains outright, I politely refuse, telling them I have no short terms plans to sell, and that their services are available for the long term.

 

[Gerry]

it was very basic 1 year lease via email


they agree to pay a fixed amount every month, with so many months in advance.
they are to abide by certain restrictions on usage of domain, and it's use for a specific purpose.


i agree to set ns to their choice for the pre-determined period.

since they were leasing for a specific period, then there was no need to add a clause to sell to them or any other interested party.

but they decided to just buy the domains at the original quoted price, after a few months of leasing it.

so i got the price, plus a couple of months lease payments

i added in the email originally, that the first payment they send, constitutes an agreement to the lease terms.

Great info to have and consider.

I don't want or need anything complicated.

Then again, I am not sure what the other side has in mind.

This was all a preliminary inquiry.

 

[Domn]

Even leasing would be an ideal case for valuable domains and will bring domains closer to the metaphor of real estate, i believe that "the keep it simple approach" doesn't fully protect the owner of the domain.

This is because it's extremely easy for the person that will lease the domain from you to lower the value of your domain.
Search engine spam, email spam and many others are few things to consider.

I believe if you try use the leasethis.com as a customer or as an advertiser may get more info regarding your request or maybe even use their services.