Rental Property - Relationship/Guarantor Breakdown

gazfocus

I rent out my first house to a family man, has two kids which he has 4 days a week, and has a casual job. When applying for the tenancy, he was moving into the house with his partner (although the tenancy was to be in his name only) and it was agreed that the partner would be guarantor, however, it turns out the partner never moved in, and now no longer wants to be guarantor has they have separated.

So, I have a couple of questions:
1: can his partner just give me notice that they no longer wish to be guarantor or can I refuse their notice?
2: I'm concerned that the tenant will struggle to afford the rent on his own, the 6 month tenancy is up and he are on a periodic tenancy now. Tenant says he doesn't have anyone else that can be guarantor. Should I give him notice, or wait and see how they cope?

I really don't want to ask him to leave because he's a nice guy, and has put a lot of work into the house (decorating, etc), but I also don't want to see him struggle with the rent. In all honesty, if he moves out, I'm tempted to just sell up anyway as I could do with releasing the equity in the house, but I don't want that to be my motivation for asking him to leave.

anselld

Guarantor cannot give notice. It is not valid.

If the T is paying rent at the moment then wait and see.

Jamiesmum

Wait and see. If he is a good tenant then don't cause him and yourself bother by giving him notice. If she never moved in then he's been paying rent on his own up till now I assume?

Pixie5740

No the guarantor cannot give notice that she no longer wants to be a guarantor. That's why deciding to be guarantor for someone isn't a decision to be taken lightly.

Presumably you've always had concerns about the tenant's ability to pay the rent hence the need for a guarantor in the first place. It's unusual for the guarantor to live in the rental property, a joint tenancy in the original scenario would have been much more common. Anyway there is a guarantor for you to pursue should the tenant be unable to pay the rent so you can cross that bridge if you ever come to it. The guarantor agreement was executed properly as a deed....wasn't it?

mrginge

Pixie5740 wrote: »

No the guarantor cannot give notice that she no longer wants to be a guarantor. That's why deciding to be guarantor for someone isn't a decision to be taken lightly.

Surely it depends on the terms under which the guarantee was formed?

Pixie5740

That's true mrginge but if there is provision in the Deed of Guarantee which allows the guarantor to give notice to stop being the guarantor then would the OP be on here asking about? Then again there are a lot of questions on this board which could be easily resolved by just reading the paperwork.

theartfullodger

gazfocus wrote: »

......So, I have a couple of questions:
1: can his partner just give me notice that they no longer wish to be guarantor or can I refuse their notice? ...

That depends on what the guarantee says, which I can't read from here.

What does your guarantee say about when & how the guarantor can cancel ?? Please let us know.

AdrianC

mrginge wrote: »

Surely it depends on the terms under which the guarantee was formed?

If a guarantor could just turn around and say "No, I don't want to be guarantor any more", then that'd be a pretty damn worthless guarantee, wouldn't it?

"Ooh, the tenant's behind in his rent, and you need me to step up to my guarantee and put my money where my mouth is? Oh, sorry, but I changed my mind..."

davidmcn

mrginge wrote: »

Surely it depends on the terms under which the guarantee was formed?

Technically, yes, but what would be the point of a guarantee if the guarantor could walk away when the going gets tough?

mrginge

AdrianC wrote: »

If a guarantor could just turn around and say "No, I don't want to be guarantor any more", then that'd be a pretty damn worthless guarantee, wouldn't it?

Yes it probably would. What is your actual point?

mrginge

davidmcn wrote: »

Technically, yes, but what would be the point of a guarantee if the guarantor could walk away when the going gets tough?

So when you say 'technically yes', what you 'technically' mean is just 'yes'.

Perhaps the LL was desperate to let the property and the guarantor refused to sign an open ended agreement and specified that they would only agree to guaranteeing the fixed term.

Or perhaps they refused to sign an agreement that didn't give them the option to end the tenancy on behalf of the tenant in line with the same notice period.

Or perhaps the LL and tenant agreed that the guarantor would only be required for an initial period.

Or perhaps the guarantor agreement is badly worded.

Or perhaps the LL explicitly wants to reassess guarantor suitability periodically to ensure they remain credit worthy.


I dont know know what possible reasons could be or if they exist at all. That's why I suggest reading the thing rather than just making stuff up because 'well it sounds a bit unlikely...'