How do I explain a hosting company’s abuse complaints and spam history to a buyer?

Pull together the complaint history first. Gather the notices you received, the accounts involved, the dates, the action taken and the outcome. Add any times the company’s addresses landed on a blocklist, and how long it took to be removed. If records are patchy, say so, and say what you did to fill the gaps.

Then explain the cause. Were the problems from stolen customer accounts, cheap signups, a few bad customers or an old server nobody watched? Different causes call for different remedies. Describe what you changed: stricter signup checks, limits on outgoing mail, faster account suspension, a named person who reads complaints. Show how you know those changes work.

Finally, tell the buyer what could still go wrong. Reputation takes time to rebuild, and a buyer will want to know which of the company’s addresses still carry a poor record. Offer to introduce them to anyone who handled the complaints. Ask your lawyer how to share customer details in the record, and remove names that do not need to be seen until the buyer is further along. Keep copies of the replies you sent, as they show how seriously each complaint was treated.

Key takeaways

• Share the whole record, including the unflattering parts.
• Explain the cause before describing the fix.
• Show how new abuse is spotted and handled today.
• Remove customer names the buyer does not yet need.