If a registration expires, DreamHost holds it for 30 days in the case that you have either forgot to renew the registration or you have changed your mind and wish to renew it in your panel. In this period you are able to renew the registration at the regular price. This is called the renewal grace period for a domain.

Per ICANN policies, regardless of whether you wish to keep the domain name or not, as long as the registration is active, you will continue to receive the notifications for the domain name you own. There is no way around this as ICANN requires that the owner of the domain name is notified every step of the way until the domain is finally deleted from the registry.

If your domain is set to 'let expire', you'll still receive the following reminder emails from ICANN:

• 4 weeks before expiration
• 1 week before expiration
• final notice on expiration date

You can transfer a domain registration away from DreamHost if it’s expired, but some actions are blocked on expired domains. 

For example, if your domain was locked when it expired, it cannot be unlocked from your panel. Please contact support for assistance with unlocking an expired domain.

If your domain falls into redemption before the outgoing transfer completes, the transfer will fail. Domains in the redemption phase cannot be transferred. If your domain has been expired for three (3) weeks or more, it's best to renew it with DreamHost before initiating the transfer.

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