Introduction

I wanted to transfer paddinglabs.com out of my registered agent and into Marque, but then I saw something: Their UI asked for a fee

This is against ICANN rules, so I contacted their social manager in Bluesky, which told their support team to email me, and they did

Their support team doubled down and still asked for a transfer fee, trying to reword it as something else, but their UI clearly said "Transfer fee required"

I told them to just give it to me, and they ignored me, so I contacted their upstream registrar and requested the transfer code

Eventually, I got the upstream registrar to give me the authInfo code, here are all the emails and conversations:

Emails

Here's all the contact I had with both Northwest and Domain Registry

Northwest

websupport@northwestregisteredagent.com
Jun 9, 2026, 8:56 AM
to me

[REDACTED],

I understand that you have some questions about your domain name and I'm here to offer some clarification.

You currently have a domain name registered with us, which is paddinglabs.com.

That domain name is FREE for the life of your registered agent service.

If you keep your registered agent service active, we will continue to pay for the domain name renewal each and every year.

If you decide that you want to transfer your domain name to a different company, we do charge a $15.99 domain name transfer fee to recover the cost of the free domain name.

If you want to use your paddinglabs.com domain name with a website hosting or email service provider other than us, we can do that for free without transferring your domain name.

We can point your domain name to your website hosting or email service provider using DNS records that you will receive from the website hosting or email service provider.

Once you receive the DNS records from your new website hosting or email service provider, you can email those DNS records directly to us and we will input them for your domain name to point to their website hosting or email service.

Please let us know how you'd like to proceed and we can make it happen!

Thanks,

My response:

[redacted]
Jun 9, 2026, 10:34 AM
to websupport@northwestregisteredagent.com

Hey there,

I want to ask you to stop complicating things and just send the AuthInfo code

Your UI says, and I quote "Transfer Fee Required", and "Domains Requiring Transfer Fees"

The AuthInfo code has to be provided on request, can't be gated behind a more restrictive process than changing the nameservers or contact info, and has to be released within 5 calendar days, based on ICANN's Transfer Policy (Section I.A.5)

I love your registered agent service, and I really don't want to file a complaint with your upstream registrar or ICANN

Just send it.

Thank you,
[REDACTED]

I waited 24 hours, and then assumed Northwest was ignoring me

So that's when I emailed Domain Registry (Northwest's domain provider/registrar of record)

Domain Registry

Jun 10, 2026

Hello,

I am the registrant of paddinglabs.com, currently registered through Northwest Registered Agent.

I have requested the AuthInfo code from Northwest Registered Agent in order to initiate a domain transfer.

Rather than complying, they have conditioned the release of the code on payment of a transfer fee. Under ICANN's Transfer Policy (Section I.A.5), the AuthInfo code must be provided upon request, cannot be gated behind a more restrictive process than changing nameservers or contact information, and must be released within 5 calendar days. Northwest Registered Agent has not complied with these requirements.

I am requesting that the AuthInfo code for paddinglabs.com be sent to my contact email address: [redacted]

Thank you,
[REDACTED]

Their response:

support@domainregistry.com
Jun 10, 2026, 3:52 AM
to me

Hi [REDACTED],

Thank you for reaching out, and I'm sorry for the frustration you're experiencing with this situation.

Since the domain was registered through the Registered Agent, it can only be accessed and managed through the Registered Agent.

Although we provide registrar services, the domain is not accessible or manageable through our platform.

For that reason, you'll need to continue working directly with the Registered Agent regarding the AuthInfo code and any transfer-related requests.

We apologize that we're unable to assist further with request, and we appreciate your understanding.

Please let us know if you have any other questions, and we'll be happy to help where we can. 😊

Warm regards,

My response:

[redacted]
Wed, Jun 10, 4:22 AM
to support

Hey there,

You are the domain registrar, you definitely can go over northwest

If this can't get resolved, I will be forced to file a complaint with ICANN

Best regards,

After that, I waited 24 hours, until eventually, I decided I was done waiting, and sent them this email:

[redacted]
Thu, Jun 11, 12:25 AM
to support

Hi,

As the registrar of record, you have the ability to release the AuthInfo code for paddinglabs.com regardless of the reseller relationship with Northwest Registered Agent.

I am giving you until June 16, 2026 to provide the AuthInfo code to [redacted]. If I do not receive it by then, I will file a formal complaint with ICANN.

Best regards,
[REDACTED]

The support agent replied within an hour:

support@domainregistry.com
Thu, Jun 11, 1:13 AM
to me

Hi [REDACTED],

Thank you for reaching out, and I'm really sorry for the frustration and urgency around this.

I completely understand how important this is for you, and I apologize for any inconvenience this situation has caused.

I've forwarded your request to our team for review, and they will look into this as quickly as possible.

I will make sure to notify you as soon as there is an update.

We kindly ask for your patience in the meantime while the team works through the details.

Thanks again for your understanding, and please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions—we're here to help.

Best regards,

After this, I got another email, by the Domain Registry Compliance team, this one included the AuthInfo in it:

Compliance - Domain Registry compliance@domainregistry.com
Thu, Jun 11, 6:45 AM
to me

Hello

We received your request for an auth code for your domain PADDINGLABS.COM, and we're happy to help!

Here's your auth code: [redacted]

If you need anything else or have any questions as you move forward, just let us know. We're here to help!

Compliance Team
domainregistry.com

After that, I went on Marque, and transferred paddinglabs.com

I asked Domain Registry if they could approve the transfer, and they did, so paddinglabs.com is now transferred, active, and live

The Northwest Social Manager

Their social manager on Bluesky was incredibly kind throughout all of this. They apologized, took ownership, and comped my registered agent service through 2028, even though I'd already resolved it myself. I really appreciated how they handled it 💜