# The agency will not hand over the auth code for our domain. Can we get around them? | Illia BizTech > The contract ended in July, every invoice is paid, three emails have gone unanswered. The new provider just repeats that it cannot act without the code. Source: https://illia-biztech.de/en/forum/die-agentur-ruckt-den-auth-code-fur-unsere-domain-nicht-raus-kommen-wir-da-alleine-weiter 1. [Home](/en) 2. [Forum](/en/forum) 3. The agency will not hand over the auth code for our domain. Can we get around them? # The agency will not hand over the auth code for our domain. Can we get around them? The contract ended in July, every invoice is paid, three emails have gone unanswered. The new provider just repeats that it cannot act without the code. * ##### Asked by DistantRampart698 * ##### Asked on August 20, 2026 We ended the contract with our advertising agency at the end of July, in writing and without any argument. To move to the new provider their form asks for an auth code. Three emails about it have gone unanswered. The domain lookup still shows the agency as the provider. We have paid every invoice, and they confirmed they received the termination. The new provider only says it can do nothing without the code, and explains nothing beyond that. #### Answers ![Portrait of Illia Belichenko, technical specialist at Illia BizTech](/_ipx/f_webp,q_75/https://cms.illia-biztech.de/uploads/small_Illia_Belichenko_author_81f88864f0.png) ##### Illia Belichenko ✓ Accepted answer August 21, 2026 For a .de domain you can get there without the agency, and there is a procedure built for exactly this. Your new provider files the request with DENIC, DENIC generates the code itself and posts it to the address held in the register for you as the domain holder. The old provider takes no part in it and cannot block it. The [DENIC page on changing provider](https://www.denic.de/produkte/de-domains/providerwechsel/) describes the process, and it also states that the code expires automatically after 30 days. The catch sits somewhere people rarely look. The letter goes to the address in the register, not the one you use today. If that is still an old company address, or worse the agency's, the code arrives there. Check it in the domain lookup first, or you will be waiting for post that has gone somewhere else. The genuinely annoying part is that your new provider did not explain any of this. Ask them for the AuthInfo request through DENIC and they will know exactly what you mean. On withholding the code over unpaid invoices, you say everything is paid, so the question does not arise for you. Nor is withholding it automatically allowed as a general rule, and [there is a detailed account of it from legal practice](https://www.dury.de/domainrecht-blog-menue/607-domain-auth-code-anspruch-gegen-werbeagentur-auf-herausgabe-des-auth-codes-fuer-die-eigene-domain). The website and your email keep running through a provider change as long as the records are left alone. Changing provider is not the same operation as moving the content, and the two should not happen on the same day. ##### #### [The quote was 6,000 euros and the invoice came to 9,500\. Do we have to pay it?](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) September 5, 2026 [](/en/forum/das-angebot-lag-bei-6-000-euro-die-rechnung-kam-auf-9-500-mussen-wir-das-zahlen) #### [The confirmation email from our contact form lands in customers' spam. Why?](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/die-bestatigungsmail-aus-unserem-kontaktformular-landet-bei-kunden-im-spam-woran-liegt-das) #### [We received a letter about Google Fonts demanding 170 euros. Do we pay?](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) September 4, 2026 [](/en/forum/wir-haben-einen-brief-wegen-google-fonts-bekommen-und-sollen-170-euro-zahlen-zahlen-wir) #### [Our shop window carries the company name in German and Upper Sorbian. How do we write it on Google?](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/auf-unserem-schaufenster-steht-der-firmenname-deutsch-und-sorbisch-wie-schreiben-wir-ihn-bei-google) #### [What counts as a normal cost per enquiry from Google Ads?](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) September 3, 2026 [](/en/forum/was-ist-ein-normaler-preis-fur-eine-anfrage-aus-google-ads) **Share** **Topics** * domain * provider change * DENIC