Fiancé has agreed to be a Guarantor - I’m not happy

We do live together in a property that I have a mortgage on.

So he is counting on you being financially sound so he can make the grand gesture of supporting his family? I would be hitting pause on the wedding to be honest and giving serious thought to where I went from here and if I wanted to be financially tied to this man.

You dont seem to recognise the implications of this

If OP is a financial associate of her partner on credit records (or will become one), if he gets landed for a massive debt that he then cannot pay, either defaults or incurs interest or has it hanging over him, that will affect her credit worthiness.

It absolutely is her business.

To be fair though, Landlords really don't want to have to go after guarantors, as it costs them a lot of money to do so. And if you think about it, they only need to go after the guarantors if the tenants haven't paid their rent, so it's the tenants that have screwed the LL over. Besides, having guarantors these days is only so commonplace, due to the sheer volume of non-paying tenants leaving tens of thousands of rent arrears.

I'm SE near Tunbridge Wells.. my house should be £1800 pcn but have always paid £875

I would not marry him until this commitment is over. The implications to your financial future is not worth the risk.

My brother did this for me when I split from my financially irresponsible DH.. his credit was crap which bought mine down as well ..

Have been in fabulous rental with landlords are now close friends .. I pay half the rent it should be because they have no mortgage on the house and we are genuine friends who 'get' the place (super rural ) ..: I don't think db even remembers he guaranteed the place as we have been here 15 years..

To all those quibbling why someone would need it private rental requirements are ridiculous and discriminatory. I’m guessing they won’t consider the SE income at all, hence need for guarantor, this doesn’t mean they have bad credit ratings.

And you come across as very naïve. Being a guarantor is a massive financial risk and it absolutely CAN have an impact on the OP. As a guarantor, you can be taken to court for tens of thousands of rent arrears and damage costs. It's irrelevant that it's for family, family can screw over family, it happens every day.

It's going fook up your credit rating no matter what happens from now on. Really bad idea. I'd be fuming if this happened.

@GreatMistakes · Today 19:56

I wouldn't be marrying him.

He took a big decision without you. You're lucky that being unmarried means you bear none of the legal risk, only the knock on of him having to cough up for it. Which might mean a hit to joint funds or you losing disposable income to subsidise him.

Yeah this. I would think verrrrry seriously about marrying this man @workworkbloodywork

For someone to agree to be a guarantor without consulting their wife-to-be, (or husband-to-be) first, is a really irresponsible thing to do. I would never EVER be a guarantor for anyone. Unless you can comfortably afford to pay off all the money they borrow - (if it's a loan,) or fork out a couple of years worth of rent, then don't do it.

Landlords are never in a rush to evict non-payers of rent if the tenant has a guarantor, because the guarantor HAS to pay the rent. YOU (the guarantor) will be taken to court for the money, and have the bailiffs coming along to take your possessions - if the person you are guarantor for doesn't cough up, (and YOU don't pay!) I have seen it happen!

It's a HUGE risk being a guarantor, and the agreement is watertight. You can NOT back out of it once you've signed the agreement.

Even if it's your CHILDREN, you should not agree to be guarantor if you aren't able to provide the funds (should they not pay up.)

It depends so much. I'd. do this for my sister because she is hardworking , stubborn and reliable. There isn't a chance in hell I'd do it for my brother or DH's brother because they are both feckless chancers.

It would have been against the law for the LL to take 6 months of rent as a deposit. The MOST a LL can do (depending on which UK country it is of course), is 5 weeks rent as a deposit, and this must be placed in a deposit scheme.

So it wasn't about not being good enough, it was about the LL ensuring they acted within the law.

Unless his sibling is a liability I wouldn’t even question it. For me this is what family is about and if I were DFand you started interrogating this it might make me reconsider you. DF is the gauarenter, NOT you. This has no impact on you. I just think you’ll come across as very selfish and mercenary

He gets to make his choices
You get to make yours

and if choose to put marriage plans on hold until it’s resolved

I personally have strong feelings about financial security that are probably more conservative than average…. I also saw my cousin get badly fucked up the arse to the tune of several thousand euro by her dickhead brother and girlfriend. While all this is going on her mother and father are handwringing in the background about family being more important than money and how they don’t want her making things awkward… 😵‍💫

there is a reason they need a guarantor they default on debt and have bad credit….

until freed from the financial guillotine that is the guarantorship I would not be planning any wedding with this man and I would be telling him why.

Your reference to pregnancy and condoms is also timely…😅 if you aren’t already get on effective contraception.

I simply couldn’t contractually attach myself to someone with that level of financial exposure.

if they make all payments for a year or so he should be able to either get someone else to do it or they won’t need it anymore.

If there's no risk of them defaulting/there's ample money to cover it if they do-fine imo.

If not might you be risking the roof over your head to keep the one over theirs?

The kids have asked us and we have said no. They are in their 30s when I say kids.

We dont have the fall back to bail anyone out

Tricky one. I have guaranteed DCs rentals on a number of occasions. It is though a serious business. If the tenants default then you are liable. This can happen for any number of reasons and you would be held liable for any rental loss. Depends on how close you are to the in laws and how credit worthy you think they are.

Same here.
I have in the past offered to lend them the first six months rent up front but I would never be a guarantor for anyone, it's like giving a stranger a main line into your bank account- no way🛑
We should all as a society stop doing this and then landlords wouldn't be able to use it to screw people over.

YANBU and I would be fuming. Two of our kids have asked us to be guarantors and we’ve said no each time. If you go for a mortgage the mortgage company will take this into consideration when doing their affordability checks.

I swear people don't think it through when they do this. Especially for family that seems 'financially stable' well what do you need a guarantor for then? But the person gasses on about their solvency and how loopholes or horrible rules mean they need your help. It's just a formality etc. of course we can pay...
It's an utter minefield and he should have thought more than twice before agreeing. You'll not bail him out to cover their rent will you?

Well said. Nor would I.

What???^^

he is not in a position to confirm they can cover the rent and that is why the landlord needs a guarantor

Last flat we rented we needed a guarantor. My bf was working full time in a good NHS job. I was a full time student but getting student money every month and eorked part time. We offered to pay 6months rent as a deposit. That wasn't good enough. My parents offerer to be guardntors but since they're pensioners they weren't accepted. Apparently my bf owning a property that he was going to rent out was enough to prove we were worthy. So sometimes even when you have the means it is difficult without a guarantor.

Are you living together? Do you own a home? I think you said he's not independently wealthy. Can he get out of it or is it a done deal? If not he needs to back out of it now. Has he got the money he needs to live and pay his sisters rent? If he hasn't he has been incredibly foolish.

I'm sorry but this would be a deal breaker for me. I'd be calling off the engagement. How dare he make financial decisions that affect the two of you, alone?. If he doesn't appreciate the financial ramifications of what he's done I also wouldn't marry someone unable to be trusted and with no financial competence.

This is huge. What are you going to do?