Letting agent is pursuing me for guarantee on a new tenancy agreement

stuptelf

Hi, hope someone can give me some advice.
In 2019 I signed a guarantee for my son's student accommodation. It's a shared house owned by a private landlord and let through an agent.

I was recently contacted by the agent telling me that he was in arrears and asking me to pay. I said I would talk to him to see what was going on as we are somewhat estranged and see what I could do to help. I asked for a copy of the guarantee and the tenancy agreement to get some advice.

The agent sent me a copy of a tenancy agreement they entered into with my son in 2020 which I didn't know existed. It seems that he wanted a different room in the house which was slightly cheaper to rent and at the end of his 12 month tenancy they got him to sign a new tenancy agreement and it is this tenancy they are holding me liable for.

I have done a lot of reading on the subject and the advice seems to be pretty conclusively that my guarantee terminated automatically when they entered into a new tenancy agreement with my son and that a guarantor can't be held liable for a tenancy agreement they didn't know existed, let alone had a copy of and agreed to guarantee. i have relayed this to the letting agent who say they have taken legal advice and that I am liable because the guarantee didn't have an end date.

I think they've made a mistake and are trying to brazen it out. If they've had legal advice I suspect they've missed out some of the facts. They put the wrong address on the tenancy agreement so it wouldn't be the first mistake they've made. They have also failed to notify me at any time during his first tenancy that they had been having problems getting the rent paid on time which would certainly have led me to regretfully but firmly decline to guarantee his second tenancy had they asked me to.

Is my understanding correct? Are they harassing me knowing they've cocked up in the hope that I will pay up to stop them? They are threatening legal action.

annetheman

The devil is in the detail of the guarantee and the tenancy agreements. Get a solicitor to actually read through them for you ASAP before you pay anything and before they escalate to legal action

stuptelf

This is it in its entirety.

SpiderLegs

Well that’s about as invalid a guarantee as you could possibly get.

molerat

As above but the new tenancy ended it anyway.

stuptelf

Thank you. Are you able to elaborate for me please? I want to be sure of my facts.

greatcrested

I'm not so sure. There is ambiguity.

PROS (for the OP):

* it's not a Deed

* the 'letter' signiture was not witnessed

* the new tenancy agreement was not provided to the guarantor

CONS:

* the guarantor agreed to indemnify against costs etc relating to "...any occupation of the property after the expiry of the tenancy....."

* yes, normally a new tenancy agreement would end the guarantee, but, for example, a SPT is in law a 'new tenancy' yet guarantee deeds typically carry forward to these, subject to wording similar to here.

A question then arises regarding definition of 'the property'. The new tenancy is for a new room. But within the same building/same landlord. How is 'the room' described? As 'the property' within one/both tenancy agreements?

Ultimately only a judge could determine the OP's liability or otherwise under this guarantee. Like others, I suspect your liability ended, and you should claim such and refuse to pay.

However, a judge might just conclude that the intention of all parties involved was clear, and therefore your liability continues....

531063

^^^^^ as above, but if your son owes the rent why not pay 

theartfullodger

There's no benefit to you communicating further with agent or landlord unless it gets to court proceedings.  In your shoes I'd not reply further.

Terrible guarantee: Agent clearly doesn't know what they're doing. If they worked for me I'd fire them.

Interesting "learning experience" for son.

Artful: Landlord since 2000.

stuptelf

531063 said:

^^^^^ as above, but if your son owes the rent why not pay 

If they'd told me about the problems getting money out of him during his first tenancy rather than giving him another one and then still saying nothing until he'd gone into arrears before demanding money off me I'd have been able to advise him not to take out the second tenancy and tied up all the loose ends tidily. He's not well. He's struggled with uni during lockdown and failed the year. The uni wouldn't let him retake the year, he has no reason to be where he is getting himself into bother. He spent most of November, December and January in hospital with bacterial pneumonia and an infected heart valve (he had a valve replacement as a baby) and the agent has no interest in the effect of this on his health. They've been irresponsible in letting it get out of control and entering into an agreement with someone who is an unreliable payer with the expectation that it doesn't matter because someone else will pay. I feel for the landlord and I've been trying to help my son access benefits while he's unable to work to pay his rent but they don't care. They're saying the house is only for students and as he's not a student any more they're going to evict him. They've acted in bad faith in my opinion and let down everyone involved unnecessarily.

justworriedabit

I'm no expert but prepared to throw my pennies worth in and don't mid if you make fun of me if I've got it wrong.
My understanding is that you the guarantor is responsible because it states "any other further occupation." Meaning, and it does happen IE you become guarantor for someone, they the tenant is then on a rolling, periodic tenancy no agreement or new agreement in the same property automatically holds you responsible until they leave or are evicted.
Even with the new agreement it looks to me you are responsible.
As others have said it does not look like an agreement that is easy to follow, hence my understanding of it.

I apologise if I've got it wrong but I just wanted more clarity so you are even more certain where you stand.