Rental Guarantor Needed? - Help

jcbsew

I am wondering if anyone has any advice? I have previously rented a property through a friend, so it was a private rent. They didn't do a credit check so there were no issues there.
I have recently moved out and into my parents place so I can save up enough money for a rental deposit. I need to move out in the next couple of months as they will be returning and I cannot live with them for a myriad of reasons.
Via Experian I have a poor credit rating - I am on a debt management plan, I had a CCJ in the past which was paid over a year.
An estate agent has said I will need a guarantor in order to pass the credit check - both of my parents are retired, so they aren't an option. I work full time in a permanent position which I have had for over a year, and I have a reference from previous landlord saying I have always paid on time.
I guess now I don't know what to do - do I approach a friend - which is soul destroying and I can't think of many which own their own home, work full time and have a good credit rating or is there another way?
I can't afford to pay a lump rent sum up front and I don't have any other family members which can help.
I wondered if anyone else had any other experiences they could share or any advice they could give?

Thank you for any help!

BitterAndTwisted

You cannot approach a friend: that is one favour far too far in my book. Any friend who accepts acting as a guarantor is a ruddy idiot. And that's not factoring in the poor credit-record, the DMP or the CCJ.

If you can't find a landlord or agent to accept you without a guarantor, then go into a shared property

grifferz

You have to recognise that as someone with a CCJ and not enough savings to cover 6 months of rent, you have demonstrated that you are a poor risk.

In your position I would probably try, in order of preference:

• Suck it up, save 6 months of rent and try again
• Share a property with multiple other tenants so that landlord considers it less of a risk
• Try to find a property share dealing directly with landlord, be up front about CCJ and hope they will consider you

I'd be unlikely to be willing to be a guarantor for anyone, even close family, because it's unlimited liability for unlimited period of time.

G_M

Being a guarantor is a huge financial undertaking and risk.

Basically your guarantor agreesto pay your rent for you.... potentially indefinately.

Worst case (for G):
* you stop paying rent after a month.
* Landlord chases you without success
* landlord turns to guarantor who pays up, knowing he can be taken to court
* landlord is happy.
* you continue nottopay rent
* your fixed term tenancy (say 6months) ends, but you decide to stay (after all - it's rent free!)
* Landlord could evict you, but it takes two months,costs money, and leaves him without a tenant
* So landlord continues to send bills to guarantor, who has nochoice but to pay, or go to court, lose, and perhaps end up with a credit record like yours!

As bitterandtwisted says: find a house-share.

Paul_the_Painter

I've always felt the guarantor arrangements should be more serious and transparent. Either for a defined period of time, not for the whole tenancy, or set up as 2 tenancies, one from the property owner to the guarantor, and one from the guarantor to the tenant. In that way the guarantor has an element of control, and can evict the tenant if he doesn't pay the rent, and the guarantor realises how serious a commitment they are making by signing a full tenancy agreement.

ValHaller

Paul_the_Painter wrote: »

I've always felt the guarantor arrangements should be more serious and transparent. Either for a defined period of time, not for the whole tenancy, or set up as 2 tenancies, one from the property owner to the guarantor, and one from the guarantor to the tenant. In that way the guarantor has an element of control, and can evict the tenant if he doesn't pay the rent, and the guarantor realises how serious a commitment they are making by signing a full tenancy agreement.

More or less my feelings. I believe that the Guarantor should have power to give notice on behalf of the tenant, power to commence or take over proceedings in the name of the Landlord and should not be liable for any debts not advised within 42 days.

G_M

Paul_the_Painter wrote: »

I've always felt the guarantor arrangements should be more serious and transparent. Either for a defined period of time, not for the whole tenancy, or set up as 2 tenancies, one from the property owner to the guarantor, and one from the guarantor to the tenant. In that way the guarantor has an element of control, and can evict the tenant if he doesn't pay the rent, and the guarantor realises how serious a commitment they are making by signing a full tenancy agreement.

A 'defined period of time' is pointless. A LL seeks a guarantor (usually!) when a tenant is likely to have future money-problems, or is potentially untrustworthy (eg CCJs). No LL in those circumstances would grant a tenancy to such a person if the guarantee Deed was only good for, say, the inital 6 month contract.

But there is another perfectly straight-forward way to set this up:

* LL grants tenancy to the 'reliable' tenant ('T1' ie the one who would have been guarantor) with permission to sublet. A clause restricting who sub-tenant can be might even be possible (I'm not sure).

* This tenant ('T1') sublets to the fickle individual with the CCJs (T2).

* if fickle occupier )T2) defaults on rent, Tenant (T1) takes the hit, AND retains the right to evict.

zzzLazyDaisy

No LL would agree to this. If T1 defaults, the LL still has no guarantor....

G_M

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

No LL would agree to this. If T1 defaults, the LL still has no guarantor....

But T1 is not a man of straw. He is an owner-occupier with a steady job and 2.5 children. That was what made him suitable as a Guarantor in the first place.

He can be sued, and will pay up.

Though you have got me thinking...

If a LL serves a S21 on a tenant (T1 in this case), goes to court, and is awarded possession, can a sub-tenant (T2) be bailiff-evicted?

zzzLazyDaisy

Okay, good point. But still, why would a LL complicate things by agreeing to such an arrangement when they can just get a guarantor to sign an open ended agreement for any unpaid rent, PLUS retaining the right to evict the tenant if necessary.

Mr_Pitiful

G_M wrote: »

If a LL serves a S21 on a tenant (T1 in this case), goes to court, and is awarded possession, can a sub-tenant (T2) be bailiff-evicted?

I don't think a S21 would need to be served on T1 as any tenancy they had would have lost it's assured / assured shorthold status as they're not occupying the home, so would only have basic protection, so notice & court order.

When the mesne tenancy ends, T2 would still have a valid AST with T1, but no relationship with the head landlord. Their status would depend on if the subletting was lawful. If it were, I think it would just be a court order that's needed. If it's not lawful as there was no consent to sublet, then T2 would have no rights and a peaceful eviction could be executed without notice or court order.

A strange scenario is when a tenancy is surrendered. If T1 and the head LL surrendered their tenancy, the tenancy of T2 would be binding on the head LL even if it was an unlawful tenancy.