Problem being a guarantor........

naughty_monk

Around two years ago, I became a guarantor for my sister in law and her partner on a rented house. A couple of months passed and I received a phone call from the letting agency saying they had missed a payment and could I cough up the money. I went and spoke to the in law and this was sorted a day later.
Fast forward to the 26th of August this year and I received a letter from a debt collection agency stating they wanted £5386.42 rent arrears and £950 collection fee by the 31st of this month. Needless to say I was shocked as I was unsure what this was for as the in law had moved out of the house (or so I believed) in March of this year.
Following many phone calls to the letting agency and the collection agency I was able to extend the date of payment to try and get to the bottom of this.
Should the letting agency have informed me before now by phone or by letter to let me know what was going on? Do they have a legal obligation to do so and should they keep records of the correspondence?
One last thing, as they haven't done the above, who can I take this to as I could have got this sorted out many months ago before it escalated to this point.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Lord_Baltimore

Legally, I think your position is weak I'm sorry to say.

Acting as guarantor is a safeguard of payment and whilst it is reasonable to expect the letting agent to inform you of rent payment default, I don't think there is a legal obligation upon them to do so. Their defence might be that you are the guarantor and you should have checked that rent was being paid, especially as there was an earlier hiccup. It was the letting agency that put you on notice for that. The writing was on the wall as far as the agent was concerned.

I'm afraid the bottom line seems to be that your SIL and her partner have let you down. Unless they can pay their debt, I think you will have to (and hopefully recover it from them later). You'll need to confirm the figures of course.

This is a 6 grand lesson: never be a guarantor.

HappyMJ

naughty_monk wrote: »

Around two years ago, I became a guarantor for my sister in law and her partner on a rented house. A couple of months passed and I received a phone call from the letting agency saying they had missed a payment and could I cough up the money. I went and spoke to the in law and this was sorted a day later.
Fast forward to the 26th of August this year and I received a letter from a debt collection agency stating they wanted £5386.42 rent arrears and £950 collection fee by the 31st of this month. Needless to say I was shocked as I was unsure what this was for as the in law had moved out of the house (or so I believed) in March of this year.
Following many phone calls to the letting agency and the collection agency I was able to extend the date of payment to try and get to the bottom of this.
Should the letting agency have informed me before now by phone or by letter to let me know what was going on? Do they have a legal obligation to do so and should they keep records of the correspondence?
One last thing, as they haven't done the above, who can I take this to as I could have got this sorted out many months ago before it escalated to this point.
Thanks in advance for any help.

You can wait until the landlord (not the letting agent) takes you to court to recover the money then you can attempt to defend the claim. You may have a chance then again you may not but it's always worth defending even if the claimant has a strong case.

In the meantime just ignore the DCA. Without a CCJ against you they can just ask you to pay nicely (or not so nicely) they cannot demand payment.

G_M

naughty_monk wrote: »

Around two years ago, I became a guarantor for my sister in law and her partner on a rented house.
So you agreed to cover any debts they run up relating to the tenancy, subject to the specific terms of the agreement you signed


I received a letter from a debt collection agency stating they wanted £5386.42 rent arrears and £950 collection fee by the 31st of this month.


Following many phone calls to the letting agency and the collection agency I was able to extend the date of payment to try and get to the bottom of this.
So - have you got to the botom of it? What are the circumstances?

Should the letting agency have informed me before now by phone or by letter to let me know what was going on?
Ideally, yes
Do they have a legal obligation to do so
No - they calaim any debts for up to 7 years
and should they keep records of the correspondence?
Well - they'll need documentation to justify their claims if you dispute it

One last thing, as they haven't done the above, who can I take this to

A solicitor?
CAB?

But the obvious starting point is your sister in law and her partner!

When were the £5386.42 rent arrears run up?
Was rent paid or not during the period claimed?
When did the tenancy end?
Was it ended properly (ie with correct notice)?
Do the tenants admit or deny the arrears exist?

You could challange the legality of the guarantee agreement if you have grounds.
You could challenge the existance of the arrears, if rent was actually paid when due.