Fraud of signature on guarantor agreement!! Help?!

BitterAndTwisted

A court summons is not frightening, so don't tear yourself up about something which may not ever happen.

The onus is on them is to prove their Deed of Guarantee has your husband's original signature upon it, that it was correctly witnessed and dated. You don't have to prove a thing. If it ain't a Deed then it ain't squat.

I've heard that forensic document experts aren't that expensive.;)

bstimo

Ok thank you so basically ill wait to see if they can prove any of it

princeofpounds

Don't fret. No need to go in, no need to explain at length every point of your case.

You just need to write a simple letter in reply, making a few basic points. It can be really short.

- You have never had any involvement with a guarantee
- The only document you have ever signed was a reference
- You have no liability whatsoever
- Any further communication must be in writing only

This puts the ball into their court, as it's for them to actually take it legal. Until you actually get a court summons it's all just letters.

topdaddy_2

bstimo wrote: »

The estate agents are refusing to provide us with anything. If we end up taken to court and loose, we can't afford the costs! My husband is planning to go in on Monday to ask to see all the documentation and actually ask what ID they have got on file because I thought some kind of ID number would have had to be taken.

How would you loose?

bstimo

Well you hear all these things and that they can wangle things etc if you know what I mean

princeofpounds

I think it was also worthwhile to call the police, although I think they may have misjudged this one.

Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with the crime law to know if this was fraud, just forgery, or something else.

Police aren't lawyers and don't always know the law either, weirdly. They may have assumed this was a civil dispute (which it is) but in doing so overlooked a criminal act.

The reason this may be worth pursuing is that it could be useful to get a crime number, rather than actually having it prosecuted or anything. Or an incident reference at the very least.

You wouldn't want to be in a situation where you get asked in court 'well if this was a forgery, why didn't you report it to the police'.

FireWyrm

bstimo wrote: »

Well you hear all these things and that they can wangle things etc if you know what I mean

They have to produce the witness to the guarantor signature IN PERSON.. Since no such person could have witnessed this signature, their case will fail. Estate agents are a shady bunch, but I dont think even they would dare go so far as to produce a witness to lie for them.

dinosaur7

I really do sympathise with you - what a horrid situation to be in. As everyone else has said, it sounds very unlikely that they have enough to risk taking this to court. Just a thought - you referred to the people as 'people that we know', so I'm assuming that these people are not close relatives, and possibly not even close friends. Personally, I've never heard of someone who is not a very close relative standing as guarantor for someone else and I should have thought that a reputable estate agent ought to have queried this.

Just one further thought - can you find out the date that this document was allegedly signed? It's possibly a long shot, but it might just be that your husband can prove he was elsewhere at the time.

Angelicdevil

princeofpounds wrote: »

I think it was also worthwhile to call the police, although I think they may have misjudged this one.

Unfortunately I am not familiar enough with the crime law to know if this was fraud, just forgery, or something else.

Police aren't lawyers and don't always know the law either, weirdly. They may have assumed this was a civil dispute (which it is) but in doing so overlooked a criminal act.

The reason this may be worth pursuing is that it could be useful to get a crime number, rather than actually having it prosecuted or anything. Or an incident reference at the very least.

You wouldn't want to be in a situation where you get asked in court 'well if this was a forgery, why didn't you report it to the police'.

Suppose it could come under the following:

Fraud Act 2006 - Section 2 - False Representation or Section 11 - Obtaining Services Dishonestly or maybe even Section 4 - Abuse of Position...

But whether they have enough points to prove or the evidence is another question.

pinkshoes

Who forged the signature? The tenant or the agent?