Money Moral Dilemma: Should we be guarantor for our relative?

happyinflorida

Peter333 wrote: »

Hmmmmm, I think you may be slightly wrong there ... :cool:

On the programme 'can't pay take it away,' they are court appointed bailiffs, and have court orders and can indeed enter the property.

However, in many cases they cannot forcibly enter (ie; they can't break the door down...) But once you have opened the door, their foot will wedge it open, and then you can't stop them taking your stuff, as they will have a court warrant to do so. They will often sneak around the house to see if they can find a back or side door open too, or even a window.

There are a few exceptions where they can use force to enter too.

There's more about it here...

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/action-your-creditor-can-take/bailiffs/letting-a-bailiff-into-your-home/can-a-bailiff-force-entry-into-your-home/

NOOOOOOOOOOOO - Please be aware that a lot of the content of these programme's are totally inaccurate in law - they are being put out there to frighten people and make them think they have to let in the bailiffs when legally you DO NOT unless they are council bailiffs who are coming for payment for unpaid council tax - that is a different matter and must be paid, never ever don't pay council tax as they have more laws protecting them and different bailiffs! We are very un-educated in this country about these sort of things and programme's like these are a disgrace.

It angers me greatly when bailiffs call the police to attend with them and the police force people to open their doors and let the bailiffs in, the police are paid by us to protect us, they are not paid by the bailiffs at all and should not be working for them or helping them.

Do not ever open your doors to bailiffs or the police - also lock all your windows and back doors if you are expecting bailiffs as they have the legal right to enter a property through an upstairs window if it's been left open! Be aware.

Always answer court papers and go to the court hearing. Present your bank statements proving you cannot pay the debt, show proof of your income and bills that you have to pay which are rent/mortgage, council tax, water - both if you have two bills, gas, elec, food & any other essentials.

If you have a car on HP which is essential for you to get to and from work, include that. Petrol/diesel, car tax, insurance, all the essentials - but if you can travel to and from work using public transport and it works out cheaper it won't be allowed.

If your debt is sold on to a debt collection company - you've won and don't have to pay it because the collection company has paid your debt for you!! lol You have no legal agreement with them, you didn't take a loan out with them and you don't owe them any money - that's quite funny when that happens and a person is legally aware of the law, never write to them, do not speak to them and never, ever make a payment to them as that proves you accept the debt and then you're up the creek again!

If a debt is older than 6 yrs it's considered out of date and you no longer owe the money, as long as you haven't contacted the company or made any payments towards the debt in that time.

Amanda42

Its one thing to take a huge risk and act as a guarantor for a child but for anyone else it could amount to financial ruin. As other posters have said, you in effect become a ghost tenant in the house and will be held liable for any unpaid rent or damage to the property. If it happens to be a house share then normally any damage is split between the occupants and if your relative can't pay you will be forced to. Could he not apply for the house while he is still in employment. My husband and I learned the hard way that it doesn't always pay to help family. We had £1500 set aside for an essential maintenance job on our house but our son was in desperate need and said he could pay us back at the rate of £100 per month. It seemed an ok arrangement so we gave him the money. That was last September and its been excuse after excuse since that time. We have now had to borrow the money on a cash transfer on our credit card. Thankfully its a % deal but we did have to pay an arrangement fee.

Teacher2

Rule of thumb on acting as a guarantor.
Don't on any account for any reason or for any person act as a guarantor.

silvercar

Teacher2 wrote: »

Rule of thumb on acting as a guarantor.
Don't on any account for any reason or for any person act as a guarantor.

Yes but in certain circumstances you have obligations.

Students need guarantors. If parents are not prepared to act as a guarantor then why should anyone else? If the student can't find a guarantor they will have great difficulty in finding decent accommodation.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

It's one thing to be guarantor to your own child; my brother stupidly signed the contract as Lead Tenant and my parents then became liable for his housemates' costs when they screwed him over.

I'm a university administrator and regularly write letters to agents/LLs confirming the status and income of PhD students and none of them have ever had a problem renting during their studies.

susan47

I was guarantor for my son once and that was fine, but I wouldn't do it for anybody apart from my children. My cousin did it for her sister and she left the course halfway through despite believing nothing could go wrong. You can't see into the future despite best intentions. Besides, if you have children of your own, can you be guarantor for an infinite number of people?

squidgyocean

It depends on your relationship with them and how much you trust them.

In all honesty though, for student rentals I don't think guarantors are used properly as five/six years ago I lived in a student property where one flatmate didn't pay the last month's rent, and the letting agent didn't even attempt to contact his guarantor, even after several months.

It got paid in the end, but I wouldn't worry about too much liability. Of course legally the liability is yours, but it's not very solid in practice.

borkid

Peter333 wrote: »

Unless you have multiple thousands to throw away willy nilly if the relative (or his flatmates) fail to pay the rent, then the answer is a big fat....

NO

You gotta be some special kinda crazy to be a guarantor, UNLESS you can comfortably afford to pay the person's rent/loan repayments/finance repayments and so on and so on, if they fail to cough up!

.

The above. Hubby has been guarantor for my daughter when she became chronically ill but we knew we would be able to pay if she were unable to so no problem. Anyone apart from our children no way would we do it.

happymrjames

I was worried about being stung for the whole property (my daughter is moving in with five other friends/students), so I clarified it directly with the letting agent - and got it confirmed in writing that I am only guarantor for my daughter's share. I really dislike this guarantor aspect of renting: the landlords make so much money from renting properties, and then they also demand that they have no risk either. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way around this - the vast majority of rented properties (at least for students) seem to demand that guarantors are in place - otherwise, you get turned down.

aubergine

Absolutely not, unless there are compelling reasons not mentioned and you can afford to cover the entire amount without your other commitments suffering, which from the mention of your children you can't.

If you were to do it draw up a simple signed agreement with him/her how any money paid on their account will be paid back. Yes, I've been watching Judge Rinder.