I just looked it up to be sure.. it is indeed true that .nl domains don't automatically expire.. if you don't pay for the renewal the domain stays with the company that did the registration . they can then choose to keep it .. or they can ask sidn.nl ( the company in charge of .nl) to let the domain become available for registration again
so in this situation it is very likely that the previous owner did not pay for renewal .. OP then contacted his registrar and he gave it to him if he paid reg fee.; all legit here. I think
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