Acting as guarantor - is this fair

jamesmorgan

Most landlords for student accommodation are primarily concerned about receiving their total rental payments for each student. I have acted as guarantor for my children on numerous occasions. In each case I have simply amended the guarantor agreement to add a limit of liability equal to the annual rent due from my child. I have never had a problem with this approach.

In general signing a contract without a limit of liability (in either personal or business life) is never a good idea.

silvercar

G_M wrote: »

So what happens after 12 months if/when a SPT arises?

What happens if damage costs = (say) £2500 and the rent arrears exceed the balance?

And this assumes the LL and guarantor can identify/agree what rent has come in from which tenant (which they don't usually monitor).

Or tenants have paid monthly rent via a single person?

This is a legal minefield which will benefit only the lawyers.....

I disagree. It benefits the guarantor if the landlord agrees to take on the tenant on this basis. It benefits the tenant if it is the difference between getting the property or not.

The risk is to the landlord that this tenant has only provided a guarantor with limited liability. But the landlord has all the tenants to claim arrears/ damages from and should only need to call on the guarantor if there is a problem.

(In our case, the tenants were all paying rent separately by standing order.)

jjlandlord

Guarantees are a mine field and attempting to DIY the drafting is very risky, as is trying to make it complicated.

Many (most?) end up worthless (which, on the other hand, is good for guarantors) because they were not properly drafted, or the procedure was not satisfactory, or the guarantee was too onerous and not clearly explained, etc.
Just trying to get a guarantee to last 'forever', i.e. into the SPT or replacement tenancies is not as easy as it sounds.

jamesmorgan wrote: »

In each case I have simply amended the guarantor agreement to add a limit of liability equal to the annual rent due from my child.

Well, that just limits the total amount you might be asked to pay, but you might still have to pay if a joint tenant other than you child does not pay...