Student guarantor

moneysaving790

hi all, 
has anyone been asked to sign a guarantor for you son/daughter only to find you are a guarantor for everyone at that house. Very risky and could be costly if you end up paying for strangers defaulting. 

Any advice ????

Slithery

Unfortunately it's perfectly standard for student accomodation. Even if you do manage to negotiate with the LL to only be liable for your child's damage/rent then they will still be jointly liable for everyone elses.

greatcrested

Very common especially in private student accommodation. Applies where all the occupants are on a single 'joint and several' contract.

I have seen guarantee agreements drafted that specifically limit the guarantor's liability to 1/6th of the rent (or however many joint tenants), but it gets legally confusing especially if the guarantor's offspring has paid his 'share' and the arrears are due one of the other 5....

Advice? Make sure that your son/daughter, and you, know and trust the other housemates. Even then it's risky, but less so than when the sharers barely know each other.

dimbo61

As a student landlord I can say we have asked for and had parent guarantors for the last 10+ years.
Would you hand a £400/500K property to a group of 18/19/20+ young students without asking for as much protection as possible ?
Students are normally very good tenants and get student loan payments 3 times each year.
Wear and tear can be a bit frightening at times.
Have you seen a copy of the tenancy agreement ? Checked the EPC for the property ?
Has the deposit been protected ?
Have you seen the property or the advert ? 
Did your son/daughter find the property on the student approved website/office like ( manchesterstudenthomes@manchester.ac.uk)
Does the property have a HMO licence ?
Landlords would have to chase the student and his/her guarantor first and will be sitting on the deposits from the whole group.

olgadapolga

My daughter wanted me to be a guarantor for the house she's just moved into, with three "friends" that I don't know (and therefore cannot trust). I told her that I couldn't do that as I don't have a job that would cover her rent and I wasn't prepared to put the security of my home on the line either as I still have three (minor) children living at home.

 She got around the issue by offering four months' rent in advance, plus her share of the deposit.

However, she still isn't talking to me because I refused to be guarantor.

I understand that there are companies that will be guarantor, for a fee of course.

AdrianC

moneysaving790 said:

has anyone been asked to sign a guarantor for you son/daughter only to find you are a guarantor for everyone at that house. Very risky and could be costly if you end up paying for strangers defaulting. 

You are guaranteeing the money your offsprog owes.
Your offsprog is a joint tenant, and joint tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full debts of the tenancy.

So, yes and no - you owe nothing more than your offsprog owes. But they owe what their housemates owe.

Have a look at this thread from a couple of days ago, from somebody in the same position... but with a housemate who's gone a bit rogue...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6183595/housing-tenants-guarantor

moneysaving790

AdrianC said:

moneysaving790 said:

has anyone been asked to sign a guarantor for you son/daughter only to find you are a guarantor for everyone at that house. Very risky and could be costly if you end up paying for strangers defaulting. 

You are guaranteeing the money your offsprog owes.
Your offsprog is a joint tenant, and joint tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full debts of the tenancy.

So, yes and no - you owe nothing more than your offsprog owes. But they owe what their housemates owe.

Have a look at this thread from a couple of days ago, from somebody in the same position... but with a housemate who's gone a bit rogue...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6183595/housing-tenants-guarantor

Thanks Adrian, interesting reading. 

I take your point but the result is the same regarding what the child owes you owe.  My question is then, say 3 guarantors sign up. One defaults, who will they after for the money. The easiest guarantor who they think will pay without a problem compared to the one who resists. 

happy_2008

Very risky indeed, i wouldn't do it

Davesnave

happy_2008 said:

Very risky indeed, i wouldn't do it

That's OK; life and money matters are all about choices and risks. Maybe you have not or will never be in this position. It's a tricky one.

We were. We ended up not only being responsible for the potential debt of A. N.Other, we also had to have him as a son-in-law!  

AdrianC

moneysaving790 said:

AdrianC said:

moneysaving790 said:

has anyone been asked to sign a guarantor for you son/daughter only to find you are a guarantor for everyone at that house. Very risky and could be costly if you end up paying for strangers defaulting. 

You are guaranteeing the money your offsprog owes.
Your offsprog is a joint tenant, and joint tenants are jointly and severally liable for the full debts of the tenancy.

So, yes and no - you owe nothing more than your offsprog owes. But they owe what their housemates owe.

Have a look at this thread from a couple of days ago, from somebody in the same position... but with a housemate who's gone a bit rogue...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6183595/housing-tenants-guarantor

Thanks Adrian, interesting reading. 

I take your point but the result is the same regarding what the child owes you owe.

Correct.

Which is, of course, exactly what you signed up for, in agreeing your child's debts, right?

My question is then, say 3 guarantors sign up. One defaults, who will they after for the money. The easiest guarantor who they think will pay without a problem compared to the one who resists. 

Yep, exactly that. Just the same as the situation between the three joint tenants.

One defaults, the "easiest" are pursued for their debts.

tacpot12

olgadapolga said:

My daughter wanted me to be a guarantor for the house she's just moved into, with three "friends" that I don't know (and therefore cannot trust). I told her that I couldn't do that as I don't have a job that would cover her rent and I wasn't prepared to put the security of my home on the line either as I still have three (minor) children living at home.

 She got around the issue by offering four months' rent in advance, plus her share of the deposit.

However, she still isn't talking to me because I refused to be guarantor.

I understand that there are companies that will be guarantor, for a fee of course.

I'm sorry that your daughter has chosen to fall out with you over this. She is young and doesn't appreciate what a serious risk this is. Kids always think their parents over-react, but when you hear about the problems that guarantors suffer, it is not an over-reaction. I would expect that once she has a home that she has bought with the money she earned over many years she will not be any more willing to put it on the line for three strangers than you are.