I think the best you could do would be to get Namecheap on the phone and ask them what they can do. This is not a regulatory issue, but rather a business negotiation. The registrar will accept whatever they can get out of someone for a domain. You could try talking to a few registrars and see if they can help you out. Provided you have the unlock code, it's up to the registrar to accept the transfer and agree to accept a payment for the domain. I don't really have a better answer. Perhaps someone else here does.