Cooling off period for guarantors?

Jules_AC

Hi.
My son had a letter from his uni last week welcoming him back for his 2nd year, had all the finance in place and so signed a flat rental agreement for 1 year (with me as guarantor) 4 days ago. However, he received a letter from the uni today saying that he had failed his re-sit and so would not be offered a place this year after all. My question is, can he/I get out of the rental agreement or am I liable for £5000 rent for a year (which doesn't bear thinking about as I a single mum on low income). I know we can try and find someone else to take over the rent but, at this stage, most of the students are already sorted. I'm very worried about the potential financial black hole ahead of me and need some good advice. Many thanks

19lottie82

What does your contract say?

I hate to say it but [EMAIL="I@m"]I'm[/EMAIL] pretty sure you will be liable for your sons rent, unless you can find some kind of get out clause or there is something wrong with the technicalities that can get you "off the hook".

Not much use now, but you really shouldn't have signed this if you couldn't afford to pay the rent.

If I were you I'd start looking for a replacement for his room ASAP

BitterAndTwisted

Was the guarantor agreement signed and witnessed as a Deed? If so, it's legally-binding.

Still, if you haven't got the money they can't get it from you, can they? As a single Mum on a low income this should have shown up when they did their credit-references etcetera.

Some form of damage-limitation needs to take place asap. What I suggest you do is to be utterly candid with the agent/landlord and see if they can re-let and then release you from your obligations. This might entail covering the rent until a new tenant can be found plus paying the landlord's reasonable expenses in securing said new tenant.

Once terms starts all sort of disagreements can happen, as this forum can confirm, so there is often a fair bit of churn with people looking to move. Get your son to advertise the room wherever these things can be posted up at Uni

Jules_AC

I wasn't there when my son signed the agreement - I signed as guarantor and he took the form back to Manchester with him. The only good thing is that each tenant has a separate rental agreement so I'm only liable for my son's problem. I'm just a bit miffed (understatement) that we received a letter last week from uni welcoming him back (and confirming his financing), and then this bombshell today. If I'd received the fail letter three days ago, I could have sorted it. I just wish there was a 7 day cooling period for rentals as there is for other agreements. However, that is all academic now. I agree that my best option is to talk to the rental company today and get the adverts out asap to mitigate the costs. Thanks for the advice

BitterAndTwisted

If the document you signed was not a Deed (and it doesn't sound like it was as your signature on it wasn't witnessed as presumably if there was a witness you would have been aware of their presence at the time!) then you won't be legally-bound by it. However, your son still will. This is rather important (to say the least) so you should endeavor to clarify this asap and I suggest you ask the agent/landlord for a copy of all of the documentation right away.

If you're not properly signed up as a guarantor, the chances of your son being taken to court for not honouring the tenancy are possibly quite slim I'd say as he has no resources for them to wring out of him. Still, a CCJ isn't necessarily going to enhance his future much.