Signed Guarantor Agreement but no AST contract signed

hsimmson

Hello


Three friends and I were planning to rent a four bedroom student house. We got as far as getting all the Guarantor Agreements signed when two people dropped out from the house subsequently, we haven't managed to find two new people to join our house.


So the other tennant and I have decided to drop out of this house and rent a smaller flat. We have let the landlord know and he is stating that he will be contacting the Guarantors for the rent. Can he do this? No Assured Shorthold Tennancy contract has been signed just the Guarantor Agreement


Thanks
Harrison

G_M

Of course he can ask them.

And of course they can (and should) ignore him. Not even reply - there's no point entering a dialogue.

No contract was signed so no rent is due.

saajan_12

1) Is the guarantor agreement valid? (executed as a deed so witnessed, with time to understand what they are guaranteeing)

2) What does the guarantor agreement say? If it guarantees the written tenancy agreement, then no rent is due under that agreement as it has not yet been signed. If it guarantees to pay X rent for X period then it MIGHT be able to stand alone. This is unlikely though, please quote the exact terms if you are unsure.

3) Was a rental agreed via email? A verbal / written contract could exist before the paper was signed depending on what was written - please quote if you are unsure. Then the LL may be able to enforce this against the students (not guarantors)

hsimmson

1) Yes the guarantor agreement was witnessed


2) I will direct quote below


- The Landlord agrees to let the property to the Tenant(s). In consideration of this, the Guaranto agrees to act for the Tenant(s) should he/she fail, for any reason, to meet the financial commitments arising from the Tenancy Agreement entered into in respect of the property.


3) We did agree to take on the house via email after viewing however, we already new the rent we simply confirmed with the LL that we would like to continue with the process of securing the house.


Thanks

Guest101

G_M wrote: »

Of course he can ask them.

And of course they can (and should) ignore him. Not even reply - there's no point entering a dialogue.

No contract was signed so no rent is due.

Even if it was signed, the tenancy has not commenced as possession hasn't been taken.

Guest101

hsimmson wrote: »

1) Yes the guarantor agreement was witnessed


2) I will direct quote below


- The Landlord agrees to let the property to the Tenant(s). In consideration of this, the Guaranto agrees to act for the Tenant(s) should he/she fail, for any reason, to meet the financial commitments arising from the Tenancy Agreement entered into in respect of the property.


3) We did agree to take on the house via email after viewing however, we already new the rent we simply confirmed with the LL that we would like to continue with the process of securing the house.


Thanks

None of this is relevant, as I'd expect both G_M and Saajan to have noted that a tenancy has not been created in law and therefore no rent can be due.


They could pursue you for breach of contract, but that is totally separate and you would in turn have a claim against the two that dropped out.

saajan_12

hsimmson wrote: »

1) Yes the guarantor agreement was witnessed- did it say 'deed' at the top?


2) I will direct quote below

- The Landlord agrees to let the property to the Tenant(s). In consideration of this, the Guaranto agrees to act for the Tenant(s) should he/she fail, for any reason, to meet the financial commitments arising from the Tenancy Agreement entered into in respect of the property. - okay so what is the 'Tenancy Agreement' defined as?


3) We did agree to take on the house via email after viewing however, we already new the rent we simply confirmed with the LL that we would like to continue with the process of securing the house.- were dates agreed and did the emails say something to the effect of "subject to the signed agreement"?
A contract can be formed without signatures but there has to be sufficient specificity. Further, this would only bind the students not guarantors.


Thanks

Note all my questions are to find any potential chance of the students/guarantors being legally responsible. Most likely they wont be.

hsimmson

What would a breach in contract involve? Would that be some sort of court settled fee?

Guest101

hsimmson wrote: »

What would a breach in contract involve? Would that be some sort of court settled fee?

Probably cheaper to settle out of court. I suspect it would be a minimal amount. When a breach of contract occurs the other party is legally bound to mitigate the loss. (minimise the loss they suffer)

hsimmson

1) No where does it state the word 'deed'


2) No where on the guarantor agreement does it state what the 'Tenancy Agreement' is... but I would assume he's talking about the AST contract?


3) The email does not state 'Subject to signed agreement'. Just states that we will need to get the guarantor agreement signed. The contract signed and states the rough date we will meet for the handover and the cost of rent / deposit.

eddddy

Just an extra consideration to think about - even if you believe you have no contract and/or the guarantee agreement is invalid.

Your guarantor may start receiving 'nasty' letters demanding money from your intended LL (or maybe from a Rent Guarantee company), perhaps even going as far as receiving claim papers from a court.

If your guarantor is robust, unfazed by nasty letters, and happy to defend this all the way to court, that's great. But if your guarantor is your elderly aunt, who would be distressed by this, and prefer to pay in order to make the problem go away, you might have to think carefully about your strategy.