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Email Domain Troubleshooting

This page covers common issues with custom email domains and how to resolve them.

Verification stays pending​

  • Confirm the verification TXT record (_amazonses.yourdomain.com) exists at your DNS provider and matches the value in the Console exactly.
  • Allow time for DNS to propagate. Changes may take 24 to 72 hours, though many appear within a few hours.
  • Use Refresh on the DNS Records panel to recheck the latest DNS state.
  • Verify records with a public DNS lookup tool such as dnschecker.org.

Emails are delayed​

If outbound email is slow to arrive, work through these in order:

  1. Confirm authentication is complete. Make sure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all configured and passing. Open the Monitoring Report and check that the SPF record validates, DKIM signing is enabled with its DNS records published, and the DMARC record is detected. Incomplete or failing authentication is the most common cause of delivery delays, because receiving servers throttle or queue mail they cannot fully authenticate.
  2. Allow for warm up. A new email domain typically needs two to four weeks to build a sending reputation with mailbox providers, depending on sending volume and recipient engagement. A new sending IP address goes through the same process: until an IP has an established reputation, providers throttle, defer, or rate limit its mail. During warm up, providers gradually accept more mail from the domain and IP, so early messages can be delayed. This is reputation building, not a fixed timer, so delivery stabilizes as consistent, low complaint sending establishes trust. Keep SPF, DKIM, and DMARC passing and keep bounces and complaints low throughout the warm up period.
  3. Check domain reputation. Review the Domain Reputation section of the Monitoring Report for blacklist hits or a high risk score, which can slow delivery.

Cannot receive inbound email​

  • Without MX records, the domain can send outbound email but cannot receive inbound email. Mail sent to the domain continues to route to your existing provider.
  • Add MX records to enable inbound email. See DNS Records.
  • Add MX records on a subdomain (for example, email.agency.gov), not your main agency domain. Changing MX records on your main domain redirects all of your agency's mail to eCourtDate and can break existing workflows.

Poor deliverability or spam flagging​

  • Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all configured and passing in the Monitoring Report.
  • Check the SPF Lookup Analysis. The DNS lookup count must stay at or below 10. Exceeding 10 lookups causes SPF to fail.
  • Confirm the all mechanism is set to soft fail (~all) or hard fail (-all), not +all.
  • Remember that a new domain and sending IP need to warm up before deliverability stabilizes, typically two to four weeks depending on volume and engagement. See "Emails are delayed" above for details.

Emails blocked by your agency's email filters​

eCourtDate sends outbound email on your behalf, but messages still pass through your agency's own email security before reaching internal recipients. A secure email gateway, spam filter, or network firewall on your internal network can quarantine or block these messages even when SPF, DKIM, and DMARC pass. This often appears as internal staff not receiving messages while external recipients do.

  • Ask your agency's IT or network team to check the secure email gateway or spam filter (for example, the quarantine or blocked message logs) for messages from your domain.
  • Add your sending domain and the eCourtDate email addresses to the agency's allowlist or safe sender list.
  • Confirm the gateway honors SPF, DKIM, and DMARC results rather than blocking on other heuristics. The Monitoring Report confirms these are passing at the domain level.
  • If internal recipients are affected but external recipients are not, the block is almost certainly on your internal network rather than at the sending domain.

DKIM is not signing​

  • On the DNS Records panel, click Enable DKIM if no DKIM records are present yet.
  • Add all DKIM CNAME records shown in the Console and confirm they resolve.
  • The Monitoring Report reports DKIM signing as Enabled or Disabled and whether the DKIM DNS records are Published.

DNS propagation delays​

  • Most DNS changes propagate within a few hours, but global propagation can take 24 to 72 hours.
  • Use a public DNS lookup tool to confirm your records are visible before contacting support.

See also​