By Nicolas Avila · October 9, 2026

Whose name is on your domain: a costly mistake

Photo: Avila Ops Tecnologia

Your company’s domain should be registered under the company’s CNPJ, with a contact email the company controls. When it is in the name of your website supplier, a partner who left, a former employee, or the CPF of someone who no longer responds, you do not own your internet address. The owner can change where it points, let it expire, or sell it. And you find out on the worst possible day.

This is the costliest infrastructure mistake we see in small businesses, because fixing it depends on someone else’s willingness to cooperate. Every contract review is a time to check.

How do you check whose name the domain is registered in?

For a .br domain, go to Registro.br and use the public domain lookup. It shows the registrant (for a company, name and CNPJ; for an individual, some details may be hidden), the responsible contact, contact email, and expiration date. For .com and similar domains, use a registration lookup service (whois); many registrars hide the name but show the registrar and date.

With the result on screen, answer:

1. Is the registrant the company’s CNPJ? If it is a CPF, whose?
2. Is the contact email one the company can access today? Not a supplier’s or someone who left.
3. When does it expire, and who receives the renewal notice?

If any answer is “I don’t know” or “someone else,” you have a problem to resolve before it resolves you. The glossary has a brief definition of a domain: avilaops.com/glossario/dominio.

What happens when a domain is in the wrong name?

Four real scenarios, without names.

The website supplier registered the domain under their own account to “make things easier.” Years later, the company wants to change suppliers. The supplier charges a fee to “release” the domain, or simply delays. The site is stuck until the issue is resolved.

The partner who left registered the domain under their CPF in 2019. The departure was amicable, but they no longer respond. The domain expires, the notice goes to their email, and nobody renews it. The site goes offline, email stops, and the domain enters a release period. Someone else may register it afterward.

The employee handling “marketing” registered it using their personal email. They were dismissed. Registro.br access is in an account the company does not control.

The agency registered the domain, website, and Instagram in its own Business Manager. The contract ended badly. The company has to prove ownership of a name registered to someone else.

In every case, the cost is not the annual fee. It is weeks without a website or email, customers sending messages to a dead address, and, in the worst case, having to change the name.

How do you fix it and prevent it?

To fix it: ask the current registrant to transfer ownership at Registro.br (or provide the authorization code for .com), while the relationship still exists. The domain transfer guide explains the process: What a domain transfer is. If the registrant does not cooperate, SACI-Adm is a .br domain dispute procedure requiring proof of rights to the name (an INPI trademark, business name) and bad faith by the registrant. It is not immediate and does not always succeed. Try reaching an agreement first.

To prevent it from now on:

Anyone who paid for a domain years ago and never built a website should also check; the guide is here: I paid for a domain and never built the website: what to do with it.

What to do now

Run the public lookup today. It takes two minutes. If the registrant is not the company’s CNPJ, send a message requesting the transfer this week, before you need it. A domain in your name, automatic renewal, no surprises: avilaops.com/dominio-e-hospedagem or contact us on WhatsApp: wa.me/5517997811471.

Frequently asked questions

Should the domain be under the owner’s CPF or the company’s CNPJ?

The CNPJ. If the company changes owners, gains a partner, or is sold, the domain stays with the company. Under a CPF, it stays with the person. A business without a CNPJ can still register under a CPF but should transfer it as soon as the company is established.

How do I recover a domain registered by someone else?

First, request an ownership transfer from whoever is listed as registrant. If there is no response, SACI-Adm is a .br domain dispute procedure requiring proof of rights to the name, such as an INPI trademark registration, and of the registrant’s bad faith. It is not immediate; try reaching an agreement first.

Can a supplier register a domain in their own name for a customer?

Technically yes, and many do for convenience. It is not good practice. Require registration under your company’s CNPJ from the start, with the supplier listed only as a technical contact if appropriate.