University student - guarantor being asked to pay other students rent debts

lazer

teacherblue wrote: »

Many thanks for your quick reply.

I have an online letter which was signed. It is very basic consisting of two paragraphs.

I know that the £1200 will rise, although the deposit was £3000 for the 4 students. The cleaning bill is yet to be added as will administration charges.

My son is distraught at the attitude of the two boys and their parents. I have never met them so cannot comment on why they are refusing to pay. One father has told his son that the G. agreement meant that the others would have to pay and it was not his problem.

Have no idea of what actually happens either..legal course of things.

So is the total rent due £4,200?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

OP I'm sorry to hear this; the same thing happened to my brother at university and it left him seriously depressed that people he classed as "friends" could f him over like that. It's a horrible first lesson in how awful some people can be.

My parents were guarantors and we managed to get a family friend who's a solicitor to help. Please check your home insurance in case it includes legal cover. I also get free legal advice at work, so worth checking there. Otherwise you need to make an appointment with the CAB. You will need professional advice with this.

Your son should ask at the Accommodation Office of his uni for general advice as he's certainly not the first this has happened to. If it's affected his studies he should report this via the appropriate paperwork NOW not after he's failed exams/coursework. He could also ask his personal tutor if there is a procedure for reporting the other tenants' behaviour. If they ask their tutors for a reference one day it would be good to have this noted on their record.

teacherblue

Many thanks to all that have offered more advice.

Yes those who owed the money have been contacted but my son was advised by the EA that the parents were not going to pay their debt.

Jon - Like many when a problem hits that you know nothing about it is a relief to have others knowledge passed on. Post confirmed what I knew but actually people have made suggestions that I have not thought about and are areas that I can look into more. I signed as a guarantor - as a parent I believed my son would not be given a tenancy without this. I spoke about this event as a scenario with my son and asked him if he thought the boys were trustworthy. I knew he reality this was not a question he could answer as these are lads that he didn't really know. Also I wonder if there are others who are in the same position who may also benefit from the suggestions here.

OutVJ - Thank You. I have tried the uni this morning and am awaiting a call back. If you can offer further advice having gone through this situation please message me as I would be so grateful.

Lazer I have not been given a break down of the rent but yes that is correct from the figures. I haven't even done the sums - (they are in London so rents are high) but will ask for a break down of all the figure which if others are correct i will need should I need to chase these people in the future.

Rosemary of course I have no real idea of the wealth of these families.

Madmel

teacherblue wrote: »

The TA states:

“Joint and several” means that if the Tenant includes more than one person, each individual is liable for all the Tenant’s responsibilities and obligations under the Tenancy individually until all rent and other costs are paid in full and as a group the persons forming the Tenant will be jointly liable with the others until all rent and other costs are paid in full.

This is the only bit I can see which relates to this on the TA.

I am in no way an expert on this, but if this is an accurate quotation, there is lots of scope for confusion. "...each individual is liable for all the Tenant's responsibilities" implies to me only one tenant, and as a *naive* parent wanting to do the best for my student kid, that's how I would understand it. This is further evidenced by what you were told by the LA.

Definitely follow the advice of the experienced posters here, but if they have made this error, there may yet be more....

stator

It could probably be argued in court whether the guarantor is liable for all the tenants. Stricktly according to the contract they are, but it seems that this is such an unfair contract term that it would have to be pointed out quite clearly to the guarantor. If it comes to court, it is worth arguining that you are only liable for your own child.

teacherblue

Thank you again for information.

A quick question:

If all four parents are guarantors then surely all of us should in the law be treated equally and be chased for the debt - not just me? Is there something I can do to make sure that this happens?

Regards,

martindow

teacherblue wrote: »

Thank you again for information.

A quick question:

If all four parents are guarantors then surely all of us should in the law be treated equally and be chased for the debt - not just me? Is there something I can do to make sure that this happens?

Regards,

The LL, as has been said, can chase you as the guarantor for the whole debt. However, if you have a case opened against you, you can join the other parents in the case. Of course you will need their names and addresses and there is probably not much point including anyone who does not have a UK address.

belisha-beacon

teacherblue wrote: »

Yes those who owed the money have been contacted but my son was advised by the EA that the parents were not going to pay their debt.

This could be a bluff, in the hope you'd crumble. If I were an estate agent, faced with the option of trying to bully four guarantors to pay a quarter of a bill each, and the option of trying to bully one into paying it all and saving me three extra jobs, I know what I'd pick... They may well be telling you all that none of the others will pay, in the hope that someone will panic and pay the lot. It doesn't matter to them if it's fair, if someone cracks first and pays the whole bill then that's their job done.

pinkteapot

Definitely worth speaking to the University and Students' Union. While this was a private let, and not University-owned accommodation, most Universities have general rules about student conduct and breaches may result in disciplinary procedures.

I work for a University and they have vague all-encompassing points in the code of conduct about behaviour that is discourteous to other students or staff, behaviour that could bring the uni into disrepute, etc. Could be worth seeing if the student discipline team at the uni would have any involvement. Or getting your son to point out to the other tenants that the uni would take a dim view of their behaviour.

This is assuming they aren't final year students who have just finished.

As others have said though, legal advice would be my first step.

Guest101

pinkteapot wrote: »

Definitely worth speaking to the University and Students' Union. While this was a private let, and not University-owned accommodation, most Universities have general rules about student conduct and breaches may result in disciplinary procedures.

I work for a University and they have vague all-encompassing points in the code of conduct about behaviour that is discourteous to other students or staff, behaviour that could bring the uni into disrepute, etc. Could be worth seeing if the student discipline team at the uni would have any involvement. Or getting your son to point out to the other tenants that the uni would take a dim view of their behaviour.

This is assuming they aren't final year students who have just finished.

As others have said though, legal advice would be my first step.

Being in a civil dispute is unlikely to cover this.

At the minute that's what this is.

OP, you should get details of the parents and students and be ready to go for small claims