Guarantor Question

sandman2ooo

Hi,

I am currently looking at renting a house with my girlfriend. As I am moving out for the first time, I have no references. The landlord of the house I am considering is happy to let my mother be guarantor. My mum is happy to do this for me, but not for my girlfriend. I should point out that I have a decent job which is much more than enough to cover the rent and bills, and for a few months I will be living alone as my girlfriend needs to find a new job since she is moving 80 miles from her home.

So, hopefully having given enough information (if you need more, ask) I would like to know what my mum is liable for as guarantor. My thoughts are that she is only liable for rent, bills and tax if I did not pay. Of course I never will allow this situation to arise. However, my mum thinks that she would also be liable for any debts of my girlfriend; say for example the girlfriend had a credit card at my address and had a debt on it that should could not pay - would my mum then be liable for this?? (- also, as a side note, would I be liable for it?)

It would be great if someone could clear this up and maybe even point me in the direction of some literature regarding the matter - it would be a brilliant thing for my mums peace of mind as well as my own.

Thanks,

Alex.

mikeandrach_2

if she was guarantor for the property she would only be liable for the rent. anything else would be down to you or your girlfriend depending whose name it is in. eg if she had a credit card debt, she is liable not you

[Deleted User]

Hi, you are in the same position as us, we were moving about 40 miles to a new area. My husband had a job in the pipeline but hadn't started yet so the agents required a guarantor. Luckily my mum was able to be our guarantor, she was the one that was checked/referenced and also had to sign the tenancy and inventory with us. The tenancy agreemant stated Mrs X on behalf of Mr and Mrs Z.
After 6 months of proving we were good tenants paying rent on time, we mentioned to the agents about the possibility of removing my mum as guarantor. They did it for us no problem and did a new tenancy agreement straight away. We've since moved house with the same agents and they didn't even charge us fees for moving. If you are good tenants, they'll love you! Even if they didn't just take your mum off the tenancy, they could possibly reference you and your girlfriend after a few months. Every agent is different, but it's worth being nice! My mum recieved a letter saying she had been released from the tenancy and everyone was happy.
Your mum would only be liable for rent and possibly any unpaid bills from the property (gas/elec/ctax/water) if you stopped paying or legged it.
Any other bills are your responsibility, although if you or your girlfriend has any credit/debt, however small, it would be best if you could budget well and clear the debts asap - it would certainly help money-wise with day-to-day living expenses and peace of mind.
As long as you are sure you can afford everything yourself and have done a detailed budget taking into account your new rent etc and have gone throught this with your mum, then I'm sure you and your mum will be fine - good luck!

silvercar

Your Mum would be liable for the rent and any damage to the property not covered by your deposit.

sandman2ooo

Thanks for all the replies. I don't have any outstanding debt at all, and it will be a weight off my mums mind that she would not be liable for anything other than the house rent, bills and damage. I think her biggest worry was about my girlfriend; although we have been together over two years now my parents don't know her terribly well and they are going through a bad patch anyhow like most people are so they don't need something else to worry about. Therefore they know my financial situation is very good, whilst my girlfriends is probably not so.

Thanks again,

Alex.

silvercar

You may have misinterpreted what I said.

If the tenancy is a joint tenancy, then you and your girlfriend are jointly liable for all the rent. So if your girlfriend didn't pay "her half", the landlord could claim it from you. If you didn't pay then the landlord could claim it from your guarantor.

For a joint tenancy, you can't have a guarantor liable for only one persons rent.

McKneff

sandman2ooo wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I don't have any outstanding debt at all, and it will be a weight off my mums mind that she would not be liable for anything other than the house rent, bills and damage. I think her biggest worry was about my girlfriend; although we have been together over two years now my parents don't know her terribly well and they are going through a bad patch anyhow like most people are so they don't need something else to worry about. Therefore they know my financial situation is very good, whilst my girlfriends is probably not so.

Thanks again,

Alex.

No, not the bills, just the rent and damage

sandman2ooo

silvercar wrote: »

You may have misinterpreted what I said.

If the tenancy is a joint tenancy, then you and your girlfriend are jointly liable for all the rent. So if your girlfriend didn't pay "her half", the landlord could claim it from you. If you didn't pay then the landlord could claim it from your guarantor.

For a joint tenancy, you can't have a guarantor liable for only one persons rent.

It is not a joint tenancy so I will be the only one paying the rent. Thanks for that info though, it will be handy to know in the future!

Alex.

Premier_2

sandman2ooo wrote: »

It is not a joint tenancy so I will be the only one paying the rent. Thanks for that info though, it will be handy to know in the future!

Alex.

If you are the only person on the TA - the LL will hold you entirely responsible for any damage, etc even if your g/f caused it. That means your mum will be guaranteeing it too.

Does the LL know that the plan involves your g/f residing at the property without being a named tenant? Most TAs specifically disallow this as it can cause legal complications for the LL.

Planner

sandman2ooo wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently looking at renting a house with my girlfriend. As I am moving out for the first time, I have no references. The landlord of the house I am considering is happy to let my mother be guarantor. My mum is happy to do this for me, but not for my girlfriend. I should point out that I have a decent job which is much more than enough to cover the rent and bills, and for a few months I will be living alone as my girlfriend needs to find a new job since she is moving 80 miles from her home.

So, hopefully having given enough information (if you need more, ask) I would like to know what my mum is liable for as guarantor. My thoughts are that she is only liable for rent, bills and tax if I did not pay. Of course I never will allow this situation to arise. However, my mum thinks that she would also be liable for any debts of my girlfriend; say for example the girlfriend had a credit card at my address and had a debt on it that should could not pay - would my mum then be liable for this?? (- also, as a side note, would I be liable for it?)

It would be great if someone could clear this up and maybe even point me in the direction of some literature regarding the matter - it would be a brilliant thing for my mums peace of mind as well as my own.

Thanks,

Alex.

Rental properties have never been so plentiful and so cheap, unless this is the absolute perfect must have property', is it not easier to simply find an alternative?

sooz

Planner wrote: »

Rental properties have never been so plentiful and so cheap, unless this is the absolute perfect must have property', is it not easier to simply find an alternative?

The OP says they have no references & has never rented before, so any good LL would want a guarantor.
Are you suggesting he finds somewhere with a less careful LL? Perhaps somewhere where he can pay in cash, & the LL doesn't bother with registering the deposit either