Asked to be student's guarantor - advice please...

Ed_Jogg

DS has asked me to be the guarantor for his student accommodation next academic year. I received the paperwork from the Letting Agent today, with a draft Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, and all looks like it is very much 'above board' and 'in order' (although I am no expert in such matters -- last experience of renting was almost 20 years ago!)

The tenancy is for six students for ten months, all of whom are being asked to provide a guarantor. My concern, of course, is that all the tenants are 'jointly and severally' liable, and hence so are we guarantors.

The problem is that although I could conceivably cover my son's rent (£325pm), by signing as guarantor I am being exposed to a potential liability 60 times that sum. ('Jointly and severally' means that I could be chased for all six students' rents and any other liabilities they incurred -- assuming that no-one else could be traced.) Now ANY claim on me as guarantor would put me in financial difficulty, so could I legally limit my liability to that of my son's share of rent? I have searched the other threads that mention 'student', 'rent', and 'guarantor', and several posts suggested that a letter should be sent to the LA stating a maximum sum. Would this be of any use?

Should the guarantors make any attempts to make contact with one another -- eg to help keep our offspring on the straight and narrow -- or should we avoid contact at all costs?

I am not anticipating any problems with my son's choice of co-tenants -- he seems to have his head screwed on the right way about most things and is capably handling his new-found independent life. He also seems to be more financially adept than I am, which is a blessing.

But I'm still rather worried... Any advice please?

PasturesNew

If the other 5 decide to party until Xmas, wreck the joint, ostracise your little soldier, then move out and disappear, you could end up paying everybody's rent for the whole year AND the clean up bill from their drugs parties.

Statistically speaking, at least one will leave .... if they are not in a position to keep paying the rent, or didn't think they should etc etc ... then the rest still have to pay in full.

BitterAndTwisted

I'd be worried. We get students on here regularly who have suffered a breakdown in their relationships and one or maybe more of their co-tenants have b*ggered off and left the remaining co-tenants carrying the can for the whole of the other's rent for the rest of the term of the agreement. That's potentially a lot of money and a whole heap of misery. If you can't afford to cover it, don't do it.

Your son probably considers himself to be a grown adult now so perhaps it would be a valuable life-lesson to let him get on with sorting his own accommodation without the bank of mum and dad as a safety-net.

If you insist on going ahead, there's nothing wrong with asking the agents to limit your liability to only your son's share but I suspect I know what the answer is likely to be but it's worth a try.

gorgeouslatinrose

A gurantor for a student is a risk, even if you are only liable for your sons share. Why not contact the University Accomadation office and ask them for advice - they will be able to give assistance and answer any questions you may have.

G_M

When I saw the thread title I was preparing to warn you of the responsibilities and potential liabilities in guaranteeing for someone.

But to be guarantor for 6 people! You are absolutely right about the 'jointly and severally' and although I'm sure you want to help DS (sorry, god I hate that expression) DO NOT DO IT.

I don't think the guarantors agreeing to "to help keep our offspring on the straight and narrow" is meaningful. But you might want to agree to jointly approach the LL/agent and see if a form of words can be agreed on the guarantor agreement that makes it not 'jointly/severally' Might mean the tenancies have to be multiple individual tenancies.

But do not lay yourself open to full joint/several guarantee.

jillymit

My DH and I appear to be in exactly the same position as you.

While we are pleased that our son has got himself sorted out with accommodation with four of his mates and the tenancy agreement seems all above board with them all named on it jointly responsible for the rent and bills the guarantor papers we have been sent to sign appear to tie us in to cover the entire months rent (£1500) if needs be and the total cost of any damage that might occur etc. rather than our sons rent and part of any damage.

While I understand the reason a landlord may want to cover every angle by having each of the five parents sign to cover the lot if something should go wrong, I'm also not prepared (or able) to do this.
I have found a guarantor agreement online which limits us to covering our sons part of the rent and a share of any other responsibilities.
We have emailed the landlord a copy asking them to accept this instead.

We are waiting for their response. I don't really know what to do if they don't accept this new agreement but will contact the student advice centre at his uni to see what they say.
I'll follow your thread with interest and keep you posted as to what happens with us.

Ed_Jogg

Didn't think I'd be the only one in this position.

We do have an alternative, and that is to pay the entire ten months' rent 'up front'.

While this is not very palatable, at least it avoids me being a guarantor -- son would still be 'jointly and severally' liable, but my financial risk is then limited to getting the rent back from him!

G_M

Ed_Jogg wrote: »

Didn't think I'd be the only one in this position.

We do have an alternative, and that is to pay the entire ten months' rent 'up front'.

While this is not very palatable, at least it avoids me being a guarantor -- son would still be 'jointly and severally' liable, but my financial risk is then limited to getting the rent back from him!

Offer 3 months initially and negotiate your way up!

newfoundglory

I shared a house at uni with other students, and none of us were used to provide a guarantor. However, contacts still typically have joint liability. That was between 3 and 4 years ago.

Is this a new thing perhaps. I'd be surprised if all landlords and EAs were doing it. Might be easier to just find another place to rent since tenancy contracts are usually just templates with substituted bits.

donquine

When I went to uni and was house hunting, every landlord seemed to want parents to sign as guarantors. You may find that in certain university towns, this is the norm and refusing to be a guarantor means your child has no option but to live in halls. Of course, it may be relatively uncommon in other towns. Your child should be able to confirm by speaking to other friends who are house hunting.

[Deleted User]

As Donquine above has said - if some kind of arrangement is not reached then your son may have no alternative but to go back into university run halls. Certainly where I study, unless I can prove to the LL/Letting agent that I earn a certain amount of money (above what an average student could earn), a guarantor in needed (it doesn't need to be a parent, it can be a brother or sister, grandparent, etc - so long as they can cover the costs if necessary).

If I were you (which is what my parents have done in the past), is arrange with the LL to be liable for me only, not everyone I'm sharing with - but not all LL/Letting agents will agree to this - if you can, go with your son and negotiate.

Also, not quite relevant, but usefull, make sure your son and his housemates take out insurnace for accidental damage to the LL property...it shouldn't be expensive but could be well worth it if someone spills something on the carpet etc

Hope it all gets sorted