Agency pressurising daughter to hand over a months rent with no tenancy agreement

Davesnave

G_M wrote: »

As Pixie says, the guarantee agreement you sign now will have no legal force unless

* your signature is witnessed as a Deed
* you have a copy of the full tenancy agreement in advance of signing it

Forgot that!

Could be useful.

dimbo61

Very poor letting agents again.
Why blame the Landlord who is paying maybe 10/15% for the agents to make a mess of simple things like sending out copies of the tenancy agreement and deed of guarantor forms.
With right to rent checks, gas/electric/ PAT testing/ hot water checks and fire safety and security I think student Landlord's have enough to do.
Many Student Landlord's are hard working people who have invested hundred's of thousands of pounds in providing safe and secure homes for tenants.
Asking for parents to act as guarantors is sensible as students do not have credit history.
Would you give the keys to your home to six or even eight 18/19 year old students you have never met before ?
They are running a business and should make sure that any agents acting for them is doing the job right.

FBaby

Yesterday she sent us a rent guarantee and indemnity form which as parents we have to sign to say if they don't pay the rent etc we will. Apparently we needed to sign it and get it back immediately as they wanted £500 in cash from each of them today or they'd lose the house.

Have you tried saying to them that you agree to paying the £500 immediately (which sounds like a holding deposit), but that you will sign the guarantor document at the same time than your daughter sign the tenancy agreement?

anselld

Part of the University experience is allowing your offspring to make their own mistakes and deal with the consequences.

A £500 holding deposit is high but not completely unreasonable and so long as a receipt is given with the terms of the holding deposit that should be sufficient for now. Usually the formal paperwork would then follow including rental agreement and guarantor forms, etc. However if the agent jumps the gun and you sign now then as others have stated it weakens their position not yours.

If the group fall out between now and September of if the place turns out to be a ****hole then that is for your Daughter to deal with. There is plenty regulation *she* can use to enforce any safety or management breaches.

dimbo61

Far too many scammers out there ready to rip off young students.
Fake emails about the student loan company, university and Fake landlords who want cash deposits but can't show you round the property or want holding deposits.
Please be careful.

david1951

Blush2783 wrote: »

her flat mates are all now ignoring her and have even planned to go out tongiht and not invited her

Unfortunately it is easier for your daughter to blame you, than it is those [STRIKE]friends[/STRIKE] flat mates. She will fall out with most of these people at some point anyway, and it's a shame you won't be able to convince her of this in advance.

I actually don't know what I would do in this situation. It's easy to say I would be hard-nosed and not give in but in reality, if my daughter was crying on the phone, I would probably end up handing over the £500.

Having said that, being guarantor for 8 :eek: students is quite the undertaking!

Pixie5740

david1951 wrote: »

Having said that, being guarantor for 8 :eek: students is quite the undertaking!

Not the way this letting agency has gone about it.

Guest101

Guarantor for £4,000 per rmonth?!


Ye sounds like a great deal


- As GM and Pixie said the guarantorship is unenforceable anyway.

Pixie5740

dimbo61 wrote: »

Why blame the Landlord who is paying maybe 10/15% for the agents to make a mess of simple things like sending out copies of the tenancy agreement and deed of guarantor forms.

A) Because the landlord is the one they'll have a contract with, not the letting agent.

The landlord picked the letting agent.

Guest101

On a side note, what is this a deposit for?....