guarantor tenant not leaving property

Cautious_Optimist

cowsnhope wrote: »

I do not think the LL would recommend my friend. .

Why not?
Would you have him in your house?
You can evict easily if he is your lodger.
Or just call him a house guest and don't take any money off him.


Main thing for you is to get him out of LLs place without any problems for LL.


Council will screw you over. It's called "gate keeping".


If you have a wage or a house you won't get legal aid. Your friend will and that could encourage the solicitors to drag things out to get more money.


The LL may well have legal cover on his LL insurance. So you are the one at risk here.


Get your friend out on time. Check there's no damage. Photograph the whole house with a date stamp. Try and get an independent witness to verify this. Put your friend up anywhere you can. Get your guarantor agreement expired or cancelled. Get your friend's deposit back.


Then never become a guarantor again!!

pmlindyloo

Is this the same friend that you are talking about in previous threads?

This is a difficult situation for you. Being a guarantor can have dire consequences as you have found.

If this is the same friend that you have previously spoken about then I would be wary of him being provided with some secure housing even after the eviction process. Might be a B&B which may not be good for your friend. Plus, opening yourself up to potential court costs if you followed this advice is a worry.

Personally I would suggest that you contact the LL and ask for some 'breathing space' while your friend searches for a new private tenancy.

The council should provide information about this and advise him about a Deposit Rental Bond (if they do one) and a Discretionary Housing Payment if needed for moving costs.

It is not impossible to find a privately rented place without a guarantor (and whilst on benefits) but asking that the HB is paid directly to the landlord may help. Look in local papers, in shop windows and ask amongst friends.

If this fails then you may have to help out by finding him temporary accommodation at yours or someone else's.

Do make sure that he is on the housing list.

Good luck.

G_M

Much depends on the wording of the guarantee agreement.

But it is likely that the guarantor can be made to pay any debts owed by the tenant in relation to the tenancy.

Of course, if the tenant acts responsibly, he will pay his own debts (rent, damage costs, court fees etc) and the guarantor will have nothing to pay.

The solution is to ensure the tenant avoids these costs where possible (by not damaging the property, leaving when reqired to do so by law etc).

cowsnhope

Thanks
I cannot move my friend into my home (long story - not remotely relevant).

How long does my friend need to be out of the property before he doesn't live there any more? i.e. if he moved his stuff out and gave the keys back could the council still tell him to go back there?

Cautious_Optimist

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Is





opening yourself up to potential court costs if you followed this advice is a worry

.

What advice are you talking about?

G_M

cowsnhope wrote: »

Thanks
I cannot move my friend into my home (long story - not remotely relevant).

How long does my friend need to be out of the property before he doesn't live there any more? i.e. if he moved his stuff out and gave the keys back could the council still tell him to go back there?

Moving out does not end the tenancy.

To end the tenancy he must

* give appropriate notice or
* agree a surrender of the tenancy with the landlord (get it in writing) or
* have a court end the tenancy

However, if he moved out and returned the keys which the landlord accepted as ending the tenancy then yes, the tenancy would end (still best to get written confirmation as per 2 above)

But council might consider this as making himself voluntarily homeless, and thus not assist him.

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

But it is likely that the guarantor can be made to pay any debts owed by the tenant in relation to the tenancy.

That does not automatically include the legal costs of s.21 proceedings.

G_M

I did not say it automaically did.

cowsnhope

Yes this is the same friend, he cannot get on the housing list as he moved out of the area when he had no other option, the council area is small and he went just over the border but now he's not eligible
The LL has already let to someone short term ( a few weeks I think) whilst selling.
A B&B would definitely not be good for my friend; I have told the support agency this - I feel like they've just been leading me and my friend on and have no idea why.
I offered to lend my friend six months rent in advance that he could pay back with his Housing Benefit but the letting agencies that had flats wouldn't accept this.

Cautious_Optimist

cowsnhope wrote: »

Thanks
I cannot move my friend into my home (long story - not remotely relevant).

How long does my friend need to be out of the property before he doesn't live there any more? i.e. if he moved his stuff out and gave the keys back could the council still tell him to go back there?

Until his deposit is returned to him and your guarantor agreement is cancelled.
I'm not sure about any more details about that.
Maybe ask Shelter or CAB?


I'd consider letting him sleep on my sofa if I was you...
Or even pay for a weeks B&B?


Maybe the LL will change the locks as soon as he regains possession?
That would be good news for you!