My developer has stopped responding: what must be in your name

My developer has stopped responding: the question always arrives at the worst moment, and the bad news lies somewhere other than code. It comes from accounts, access and the domain name left with someone else. Here is the list to check before you need it.

My developer has stopped responding, what should I do? Start with the access list, not the code. A business owner on Reddit (r/startups, August 2026) describes discovering during a takeover that important pieces still sat in accounts belonging to the former provider.

The list, in the order you will miss it

The same account lists what causes trouble in practice: the repository holding the code, hosting accounts, databases, the domain name and its configuration, app store accounts, metered third-party service accounts, production credentials, backups and deployment knowledge, the knowledge written nowhere that you cannot retrieve by registered letter. A project can be fully paid, delivered and invoiced while almost this entire list remains in the name of someone you can no longer reach. Order matters: the domain and production credentials block you immediately; the code repository and backups exact their price later, when something needs fixing.

The name on the domain

A web services provider summarises it on Reddit (r/smallbusiness, May 2026): many freelancers disappear once the project is complete, and your domain must always be purchased in your name. It is the cheapest line on the list and the most painful to lose: without the domain, your professional email address, printed links and search visibility go with it. Check tonight who is listed as the registrant and which address receives renewal notices. A domain expiring while its owner is unreachable can sometimes be bought back from a reseller, at the price they choose.

What cannot be recovered afterwards

A provider reports on Reddit (r/conseiljuridique, July 2026) that an agency friendly with his client claimed a delivered site in its portfolio, making an exact copy from supplied code and files with the logo and company name replaced. Possessing files proves little. Evidence lies in writing: a contract stating who owns the produced code, an invoice mentioning it and dated version history in your name. These three documents are requested at a project's beginning, while everything is going well, and almost never obtained after a dispute. We have detailed elsewhere what determines ownership of your application.

Regaining control without rebuilding everything

Once access is recovered, the temptation is to rebuild everything so you depend on nobody. That calculation is weak. First have someone write what your application does today, screen by screen and rule by rule: this document is almost always missing, and it is what makes a provider replaceable. An agent team you direct can start from existing software, produce those requirements and break improvements into stages you approve one by one. The document and code remain on your machine, restoring the position you lost.

What to require in the next contract

Four lines to include in the quote before signing. All accounts are created in your name using your email, with the provider invited into them. Code is deposited with you, not them. A deployment note written in French accompanies delivery. And ownership of produced code belongs to you, explicitly. A serious provider accepts these four lines in ten minutes; one who disputes them has taught you something useful. If you start without a provider, the four possible routes mainly differ in what they leave in your hands.

Tonight, in twenty minutes

Open a document and make two columns: the access item and the name of the person owning the account. Work through the items listed above. Every box where you cannot write your name is a door you do not control. Address the highest one on the list tomorrow, starting with the domain, and retain written evidence of every transfer.