Estate Agency - Guarantor - Bank Statement

KuanYin

My daughter has been at university for a year and living on campus. But now she and two other girl students want to leave campus and have found a flat to move into. I would be the guarantor. The estate agency, however, are now asking for a copy of a recent bank statement. I have been told this is against the law. Any comments?

davidmcn

Whoever told you this is wrong.

da_rule

Nope not against the law. They want to see what assets you have to check that you are a worthy guarantor. You are obviously there to be sued etc should they not pay the rent or damage the property. Therefore they need to be satisfied that you have the means to cover any claims.

eddddy

It's not unusual to be asked for bank statements.

On a broader level, you need to make sure you understand what you are guaranteeing.

(Typically for a student flat there's joint and several liability, so you will be guaranteeing the rent of all 3 girls, plus the cost of any damage that any of them cause. Do you trust the 2 friends?)

Pixie5740

Which law do you think it is breaking?

27cool

Why would anyone allow you to be a guarantor unless they knew that you were financially able to bear the possible cost of being a guarantor. It seems a sensible precaution for them to take.
However, I'm not sure that being guarantor for 3 other girls that you do not know is a great idea.

Cakeguts

They need to check your bank statement to make sure that you have enough going into it to cover the cost of paying the entire rent on the property if any of the students don't.

I hope you don't mind paying the rent on this property? Have any of the other students asked their parents to be guarantors?