Rental guarantor

Maddie1983

Thanks for the heads up. Atm there's no outstanding debt, however I'll keep that information in my back pocket. I've also spoken to the dad and told him it is unfair and unacceptable he expects me to be guarantor for his son when oir relationship ended 9 months ago and that I'm not gonna be a meal ticket purely so they have somewhere to live. He agreed and said he'll sort it as we both don't want to be tied together 

FlyMeSomewhere79

kipperman said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Definitely have a conversation with the landlord because you have no connection or relationship of any kind with these people now.

I'm assuming the ex didn't sign as guarantor because he wasn't in a great financial situation at the time but needs to take responsibility now especially as he's living under that roof also. 

Explain to the landlord that the arrangement not only isn't financially viable anymore but it makes you vulnerable to your now ex partner in that he could happily not pay rent and stitch you up with it. Nobody should have a financial link to an ex that can be easily exploited at any time.

You are missing the point of the OP being a guarantor - assuming the documentation is watertight ( and it may well not be)- why would a landlord relinquish his/her security simply because the situation is not financially viable or makes someone "vulnerable". This would be  why legal advice about these sorts of situations is vital - a lawyer is in a far better position to advise on all the different "what ifs" that might happen. 

I'm not missing any point, it says on the internet that the landlord can relinquish it if they feel.theres good reason. And there's very good reason. 

doodling

Hi,

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

kipperman said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Definitely have a conversation with the landlord because you have no connection or relationship of any kind with these people now.

I'm assuming the ex didn't sign as guarantor because he wasn't in a great financial situation at the time but needs to take responsibility now especially as he's living under that roof also. 

Explain to the landlord that the arrangement not only isn't financially viable anymore but it makes you vulnerable to your now ex partner in that he could happily not pay rent and stitch you up with it. Nobody should have a financial link to an ex that can be easily exploited at any time.

You are missing the point of the OP being a guarantor - assuming the documentation is watertight ( and it may well not be)- why would a landlord relinquish his/her security simply because the situation is not financially viable or makes someone "vulnerable". This would be  why legal advice about these sorts of situations is vital - a lawyer is in a far better position to advise on all the different "what ifs" that might happen. 

I'm not missing any point, it says on the internet that the landlord can relinquish it if they feel.theres good reason. And there's very good reason. 

You are still missing the point.  The landlord can relinquish a guarantee for any (or no) reason at all.

The question is why would that happen.  At the moment I don't see a reason.  I suspect that you are relying on the landlord to take a compassionate approach but that is purely down to their conscience (or whether it aligns with their shareholder's interests if the landlord is a company).  There is no legal obligation for the landlord to consider the circumstances of the guarantor.

eddddy

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

kipperman said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Definitely have a conversation with the landlord because you have no connection or relationship of any kind with these people now.

I'm assuming the ex didn't sign as guarantor because he wasn't in a great financial situation at the time but needs to take responsibility now especially as he's living under that roof also. 

Explain to the landlord that the arrangement not only isn't financially viable anymore but it makes you vulnerable to your now ex partner in that he could happily not pay rent and stitch you up with it. Nobody should have a financial link to an ex that can be easily exploited at any time.

You are missing the point of the OP being a guarantor - assuming the documentation is watertight ( and it may well not be)- why would a landlord relinquish his/her security simply because the situation is not financially viable or makes someone "vulnerable". This would be  why legal advice about these sorts of situations is vital - a lawyer is in a far better position to advise on all the different "what ifs" that might happen. 

I'm not missing any point, it says on the internet that the landlord can relinquish it if they feel.theres good reason. And there's very good reason. 

I think you might be confusing something that is theoretically possible, with something that might actually happen.

• You can ask a landlord to release you as a guarantor - because of your personal circumstances

• You can ask a car dealer to give you a free car - because of your personal circumstances

• You can ask Tesco to waive your grocery bills for the next 5 years - because of your personal circumstances 

The landlord, the car dealer and Tesco are all free to do those things.

But it's very, very unlikely that any of them would do it, because it wouldn't be a good business decision for them (even though it would be a great result for you).

DullGreyGuy

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

kipperman said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Definitely have a conversation with the landlord because you have no connection or relationship of any kind with these people now.

I'm assuming the ex didn't sign as guarantor because he wasn't in a great financial situation at the time but needs to take responsibility now especially as he's living under that roof also. 

Explain to the landlord that the arrangement not only isn't financially viable anymore but it makes you vulnerable to your now ex partner in that he could happily not pay rent and stitch you up with it. Nobody should have a financial link to an ex that can be easily exploited at any time.

You are missing the point of the OP being a guarantor - assuming the documentation is watertight ( and it may well not be)- why would a landlord relinquish his/her security simply because the situation is not financially viable or makes someone "vulnerable". This would be  why legal advice about these sorts of situations is vital - a lawyer is in a far better position to advise on all the different "what ifs" that might happen. 

I'm not missing any point, it says on the internet that the landlord can relinquish it if they feel.theres good reason. And there's very good reason. 

They CAN relinquish it if there is absolutely no reason to whatsoever thats the advantage of being an adult in the eyes of the law. Just because you can do something doesn't mean anyone ever does. 

saajan_12

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

kipperman said:

FlyMeSomewhere79 said:

Definitely have a conversation with the landlord because you have no connection or relationship of any kind with these people now.

I'm assuming the ex didn't sign as guarantor because he wasn't in a great financial situation at the time but needs to take responsibility now especially as he's living under that roof also. 

Explain to the landlord that the arrangement not only isn't financially viable anymore but it makes you vulnerable to your now ex partner in that he could happily not pay rent and stitch you up with it. Nobody should have a financial link to an ex that can be easily exploited at any time.

You are missing the point of the OP being a guarantor - assuming the documentation is watertight ( and it may well not be)- why would a landlord relinquish his/her security simply because the situation is not financially viable or makes someone "vulnerable". This would be  why legal advice about these sorts of situations is vital - a lawyer is in a far better position to advise on all the different "what ifs" that might happen. 

I'm not missing any point, it says on the internet that the landlord can relinquish it if they feel.theres good reason. And there's very good reason. 

Sure they can, just like your neighbour *could* gift you their house because, but it's exceedingly unlikely. This is a financial transaction and there's NO good reason financially. 

Sure you could say no harm in asking, but there is harm in causing OP to pin their hopes in something so unrealistic, plus you possibly draw the LLs attention to a guarantee that they may have forgotten about .

RHemmings

I note that on the 'Landlord Law Blog' that they claim that any rent increases invalidate a guarantor agreement. They claim that any clause tying a guarantor into future, unknown, rent increases would likely be an unfair term. 

I'm not posting this as fact, but just as one opinion I stumbled across. I don't know of case law that would back up this opinion. 

https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2023/12/04/three-questions-from-a-landlord-about-tenant-issues/

3. The effect of increasing rent on guarantees

If you increase the rent you will need to get the guarantee deed re-signed as increasing the rent will cause it to lapse.

The reason being that your guarantor did not agree to guarantee a tenancy at the higher rent.   They only agreed to guarantee the tenant at the original rent, so if the rent is increased, this will have the effect of ending the guarantee.

Even if the guarantee provides for the guarantee to be effective at a higher rent, I this clause would probably be invalid under the unfair terms rules.

ThisIsWeird

This guarantor malarkey seems deeply flawed.
Is it really the case, for example, that a tenant being 'guarantored' could simply choose to stop paying their rent, in the knowledge that their guarantor would need to pick up the bill? Indefinitely?! 
What's to prevent this from happening, say by a feckless child?! If the tenant can clearly afford to pay the rent, so is simply taking advantage to line their own pockets, can the guarantor escape their liability in some way?

RHemmings

ThisIsWeird said:

This guarantor malarkey seems deeply flawed.
Is it really the case, for example, that a tenant being 'guarantored' could simply choose to stop paying their rent, in the knowledge that their guarantor would need to pick up the bill? Indefinitely?! 
What's to prevent this from happening, say by a feckless child?! If the tenant can clearly afford to pay the rent, so is simply taking advantage to line their own pockets, can the guarantor escape their liability in some way?

I only have a problem with the agreement continuing indefinitely with no way of exiting the agreement. I had offered to be a guarantor for someone, but refused when I saw the clauses that gave me no way out. Because I had been told that my guarantorship would only last the length of the rental agreement - one year. In this case, the landlord decided to go ahead without a guarantor. So, it worked out for everyone. 

I can't find anyone other than the landlordlaw blog person who says that the guarantorship lasting through rent increases being an unfair term. So, I'm not confident in that. 

YoungBlueEyes

ThisIsWeird said:

This guarantor malarkey seems deeply flawed.
Is it really the case, for example, that a tenant being 'guarantored' could simply choose to stop paying their rent, in the knowledge that their guarantor would need to pick up the bill? Indefinitely?! 
What's to prevent this from happening, say by a feckless child?! If the tenant can clearly afford to pay the rent, so is simply taking advantage to line their own pockets, can the guarantor escape their liability in some way?

I can't find it now but there's been a thread on here fairly recently that was basically that.

A person was a guarantor for a fellah and it was all fine to start with. Then his life fell apart but that OP had no way of extricating themself from the guarantorship. The renter and the LL knew it but neither gave a monkeys. Awful thread actually.