Reseller renews domain but customer does not pay

Who owns the domain

[caran1]

If a reseller renews a domain name which is about to expire and the customer does not pay the reseller for renewal, who owns the domain name? Can the reseller transfer/sell the domain name to anyone he wishes to?
Would appreciate your opinion

[too much information]

I would think that if the reseller is not able to collect payment from the customer that the reseller would get ownership. In the end, it comes down to who paid for the domain.

Of course you could have an issue if there is a copyright or trademark established. Or some sort of contract. If it's an issue, talk to a lawyer, if you're the reseller, shut down the site until you can collect a payment.

[leadegroot]

It depends on the contract.
* Some registrars own all the domains they register and just 'allow' the buyer to use it (check your contract and don't use one of those!). In this case obviously the registrar would own the domain as they always have.
* Some registrars actually pass on the ownership.
In the former case, I would not think paying for it would give them ownership, but it would certainly be easy for them to change the details of the domain.
IANAL!

[caran1]

thanks for replying
Is there any way I can find our which registrar passes ownership of the domains,and which do not?

[leadegroot]

Read the fine print of the agreement for any registrar you are interested in.
I am not aware of any central clearing house for registrars...

[stu2]

This is probably clear-cut. Pretty much 100% of all Terms of Service will state that if the registrant doesn't pay for the domain, the registrar/reseller can do whatever they like with the domain.

Also, by not paying to renew a domain, the intent of the registrant is also very clear. However, I suspect the OP has more complicated scenario behind his simple question.