What are my rights as a Guarantor ?

canaldumidi

Deleted_User said:

Ath_Wat said:

Deleted_User said:

user1977 said:

Deleted_User said:

user1977 said:

You have pretty much no rights as against the creditor - unfortunately the time to understand that was before you signed the guarantee...

But, do they have an obligation to notify me immediately as I am liable ?

No. They can notify you whenever they feel like asking you to repay the debts.

I'm not sure how you would have "removed" the tenant from the property anyway - which wouldn't necessarily bring the tenancy to an end.

The tenant is a family member, I would have got them out fairly easily and the tenancy was only 6 months and it would only require a months notice to get out of it.

When did the tenancy end?

It hasn't ended and arrears are still increasing..............we are going this weekend to remove the tenant

As pointed out, 'removing the tenant' does not end the tenancy. You also need to get the tenant to serve the proper notice. As this is now a periodic tenancy, you need to know if it is Statutory or Contractual as this affects the notice period. Read

Post 4: Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

The guarantee agreement you signed:

* Executed as a Deed? With a witness? (though courts sometimes accept non deeds if the intention is clear)

* were you given a copy of the tenancy agreement before signing? If not the deed could be invalid as you'd be signing something the details of which were not known

No - the LL/agent does not have to tell you as soon as arrears start. In most cases they will first chase the tenant and try to resolve. They have 6 years to claim from the tenant and/or you.

pinkshoes

saajan_12 said:

No, you have exactly the rights and obligations stated, and there's no mention of notification in what you quoted. 

However the bigger question is what exactly did you sign? 
- was it a 'deed'?
- was it witnessed?
- were you given the tenancy agreement before signing the guarantee? 

@Deleted_User -  you need to answer the above questions. If your guarantor agreement was not set up correctly then you might not be liable.

I would also argue that the letting agent has acted with negligence and should have notified you as soon as the rent was late. They should have also issued an S8 to the tenant to evict them due to the arrears. 

I would firstly establish if you are liable (answer above Qs),  then if you are liable, I would question their negligence over not informing you of the arrears and not issuing an S8.

Can you make the tenant pay? After all, you agreed to be their guarantor, so you must have had some confidence in their ability to pay??

robatwork

Your anger and energies should be directed to the tenant who had a moral obligation to inform the person who put their money and credit on the line for them, ie. you.  Make sure you form a payment plan with them to repay you, even if only £100 per month. They need to acknowledge their debt to you.

canaldumidi

pinkshoes said:

saajan_12 said:

No, you have exactly the rights and obligations stated, and there's no mention of notification in what you quoted. 

However the bigger question is what exactly did you sign? 
- was it a 'deed'?
- was it witnessed?
- were you given the tenancy agreement before signing the guarantee? 

I would also argue that the letting agent has acted with negligence and should have notified you as soon as the rent was late. They should have also issued an S8 to the tenant to evict them due to the arrears. 

I would firstly establish if you are liable (answer above Qs),  then if you are liable, I would question their negligence over not informing you of the arrears and not issuing an S8.

No negligence there, at least not in a legal sense.

And LLs are under no obligation to serve a S8. They have other options including suing the teant for the arrears but leaving the tenancy running, demanding the arrears from/suing the guarantor, or... taking no action for as long as they wish and then suing....

london21

Not much if any rights for a Guarantor, is the reason a lot of people aviod except say a parent to a child etc.

If they default, you become responsible. 

Upcycling_Queen

You signed the tenancy as a guarantor. It literally means that if they don’t pay the rent, you have to.

There is no way out, if the tenant doesn’t pay, you do. I’m sorry but I was guarantor once for a 6 month short hold tenancy and I had my fingers crossed the whole time. Thankfully, it worked out but I don’t think I’d do it again.

Ath_Wat

I think more people need to look at being a guarantor as essentially being a joint tenant who doesn't live there.  It's up to both of you to get the rent paid every month.  You can't just leave it up to the other person any more than you can leave it up to the other person if you've rented a flat to live in together.  Unless you implicitly trust them with finances you need to be checking, and if you think they are in any way irresponsible you are better off paying the rent yourself every month and getting them to give money to you.