Advice please re student renting

Surfbabe

I wonder if anyone can give me some advice please.

DS is going into 2nd year at Uni in Wales. He along with 5 others signed an agreement to rent 6 bedroom house for next academic year. Landlord took two months rent in advance - one month as deposit the other to cover July and August at half rent each - although he has not allowed the students any access to property over this period. We are unable to find out the details of the Deposit scheme the money is held in, It appears that the house is not registered as an HMO or the landlord is accredited with local council. I've now received a form asking me to fill my details in as next of kin to act as guarantor and for a credit check to be done on myself - but we still haven;t received a copy of tenancy agreement or deposit scheme etc.

Am extremely worried about this :eek: . Is there anything I can do to get DS out of contract - should I be looking to get him out of contract - rent seems high compared to other properties / rooms in area and doesn;t included services.

Any advice would be greqatly appreciated.

Thank you

pinkshoes

Surfbabe wrote: »

Is there anything I can do to get DS out of contract - should I be looking to get him out of contract - rent seems high compared to other properties / rooms in area and doesn;t included services.

If your son is going into his second year at uni, then he'll be 19?? Meaning as an ADULT he should either be sorting this out himself, or learning from his own mistakes/actions.

As for your part as guarantor, I'd write to the landlord saying you'll fill in the guarantor paperwork when you've received the paper work showing the deposit has been protected in the scheme.

If they get half rent, then they don't usualy get summer access, as the Landlord will use this time to get any work done in the house. If they wanted access, they can usually specify this and pay full rent over the summer instead.

Premier_2

Your DS signed the contract, you can't get out of it now you've discovered cheaper places to rent.

The deposit should be protected and the property possibly/probably licenced as an HMO. Get your DS to contact the LL and request these details.

Why hasn't your DS got a copy of the TA? Has he signed one? If so why didn't he get a copy? Perhaps he could request a copy from the LL if he's lost his copy.

Surfbabe

Yes DS is 19 and he is also trying to sort it out - He has signed a TA but wasn;t given a copy and despite asking has still not got it. re deposit protection he has asked for these details and hasn;t got them. Not trying to get out of it because we've found cheaper places (which we haven;t because they are all taken) but because of lack of paper work, licences etc. I'm taking a keen interest as I';m being asked to be guarantor

Premier_2

Whatever the reason, you can't get your DS out of the contract he agreed to when he signed it.

DS is entitled to have some of the details though (e.g. TDS)

If he signed the TA without a guarantor, just refuse to act as guarantor now
As long as he abides by the terms of the TA he signed, which includes him paying the rent on time, then there's not much the LL can do about it. The LL needs to abide by it as much as the tenant.

clutton_2

your son can contact the 3 deposit schemes himself and ask if a deposit has been lodged - when was it paid ?

i think its wise to be cautious as a guarantor - and i would not sign anything without at least a copy of the tenancy agreement - you should be asked to sign a Data Protection Disclaimer form if a good landlord is going to fully credit check you - but do make sure you are only acting as guarantor for your son only ..... tricky

Surfbabe

Thanks for the advice so far - any one else got any hepful ideas please???

PasturesNew

As a guarantor, you have to check what you're signing up for.

e.g. if your son drops out, you'd still have to pay to the end of the year.

But what if all the other housemates drop out and their guarantors are untraceable? It could be that if you're the only traceable one they'll come after you for the full year's rent for everybody. Seen this happen on these forums before - so you need to check how far your liability extends.

tbs624

Surfbabe - as Clutton says, you/your son can check with the three deposit schemes whether the tenancy deposit has been registered. Contact details via here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_066391

There *are* many LLs specialising in Uni lettings who are professional and offer a good service: this includes not taking advantage of youngsters who are in their first rental.

I have to say that although, yes, your son is 19, IMO it is absolutely right that you help sort it out (a) it’s what families are for and (b) as you say, you have been asked to be a guarantor.

The local Council will have a Private Sector Rentals Team, sometimes within the Housing Dept, sometimes separate. Speak to them about the HMO registration issue - his license may be “pending”: they can help with all tenancy related issues and it’s free.

The others are right in that normally you/your son would be contractually bound to pay for the rent etc for the full contractual period. However, I personally would look to withdraw from any contract where a LL is trying to let an HMO *without* the required licensing (and the LL will be facing a couple of thousand quid fine for failing to register so would probably be wary of trying to recoup anything from the students under the contract). The HMO regs cover all sorts of things from fire safety, electrical safety, sanitation provision etc. However, do seek your own advice from Shelter 0808 800 4444, CAB or the council’s Tenancy Relations Officer.

There should also be an adviser with the Accoms Office at the Uni - check whether this LL is known to them.

On the subject of acting as a guarantor:

Pastures New is absolutely right - if the students are all signed up to the one contract they will have what is called Joint & Several Liability. This means that each of them is responsible for the *total rent*, so if one does a runner the LL may pursue the rest for payment: often the wording of the Guarantor Form will say that you guarantee *all* of your son’s commitments under the Terms of the Tenancy Agreement.

That would include paying out for any damage done by any of the tenants and covering the full rent - if a couple of the tenants &/or their guarantors don’t come up with their share of anything owed, you can in theory be pursued for any shortfall.

Even if the HMO licensing and deposit regs issues were resolved, you most definitely should not sign any Guarantor Agreement without reading through the TA in full. This type of LL is probably unlikely to bother with you being credit checked, but if he asks you for a fee for doing so, then insist on having a copy of the report, as you are entitled to do, so you know that you are not being “scammed”.

Some LLs will alternatively accept a personal letter from you confirming that you will cover your son’s own rent only to a maximum sum of £x.

(Obviously if your son and the others have each signed an individual contract then some of the above does not apply)

Additionally, Premier is right in that if your son has already signed the TA, then the LL cannot *now* insist on you signing a Guarantor Form, unless there is a clause in the contract saying anything about it being subject to the GF being completed.

If you really want your son out of this contract - check the facts first and then your son could write and say that he wishes to withdraw from the contract because the LL is acting illegally because:

• the house is not licensed
• the deposit has not been registered

and he should ask for his share of the deposit back, saying that if it is not returned he will pursue the LL through the courts for its return. A tenant has to show that they have raised the deposit issue with the LL first but it can insist either that the LL register the deposit immediately or that it is returned to the tenants(s) with a payment equivalent to 3x the deposit. Normally the fact that one side of a party breaks Term of a TA doesn't mean that the contract can simply be ended by the other party but a non-registered HMO (if it should be registered) alters that IMO, unless as I've said his application is pending. (Again, seek your own clarification before acting on any of this)

The deposit issue alone would not be enough to justify withdrawing as this can be resolved - the lack of HMO licensing is more worrying, so it really is key that you clarify that one.Even where HMOs don't comply with regs, Councils do sometimes seem to allow the LL a lengthy period of time to bring everything up to compliance level and I would not want my kids living in one during that time.

There are a couple of additional things though - one is that he may have a resultant difficulty with the other tenants and he has to be with them at Uni for another couple of years, and the other things is that if it is one of the smaller Uni towns in Wales the LL may badmouth your son to other LLs. (That said, a decent LL would understand why you would want to withdraw if a LL is acting illegally)

The other alternative is that he /the other students find another student who is willing to takeover his room/tenancy and get the LL to agree to release him.( I would find it hard to encourage someone to replace me though if I knew that the LL was a wrong 'un.)

Surfbabe

tbs thank you so much for all the advice - have not received anything so far from LL - am waiting for post today to see whether tenancy agreement arrives.

Premier_2

Why are you still wanting to be a guarantor?

Why expose yourself to that risk?

Your DS has a TA and as long as he abides by the terms of that the LL can't do much about it now.