to not want to be a guarantor to a loan that DW's friend and husband want to take out.

[BreakingDad77]

I am aware they are not good with money (Im not amazing but are not anywhere near CCJ/default) and already have court collections on money they own. They need this to bridge the time till the DW friend goes back to work after maternity leave, supposedly they are short for rent and need 5-6k.

DW says we not at risk but I have told her that I believe that say they default then they would come after us and because we wouldn't be able to manage that extra then it would get put on our house.

I dont like the idea of money between friends like this.

Hopefully you've decided you're definitely not going to be their guarantor, but could your wife be the guarantor without telling you? Or is she unlikely to pass their credit checks?

Cross posts, Chris!

I once offered to be guarantor for someone - though in the end it was not necessary. I only offered after (1) carefully calculating how much I could be liable for, (2) checking that I could cover it if necessary (3) telling my friend in writing that if I paid up I would then seek to recover the money from her, and (4) carefully considering whether I thought she was OK with money.

I would never stand as guarantor for someone who is bad with cash. Ever.

I've no idea why you even consider this.

You know they are bad with money, therefore the chances of you being pursued for the money are high.
You barely know them.
The fact they are asking people they hardly know means all their family and friends have either said no, or would say no, presumably for good reason.
It will negatively affect your credit rating.
They will not be "on the streets" because she can go back to work.

Lenders clearly won't touch them with a bargepole without a backup, why on earth should you?

Run away.

Exactly Full and, as other people have said, why aren't their families or close friends being asked to do this? Probably because they've already picked them clean and have to start widening their circle of victims friends.

Yep, show her this. Presumably she understands that she has made bad choices about money in the past? Then the whole weight of MN pointing out the massive problems in this arrangement ought to convince her that, kind though it seems, this would be another error of judgement.

Agree with everyone else - no no no. I'd agree showing your wife this thread could be a good idea.

No, just no, no, no.
Have heard so many stories of things going wrong in guarantor situations. Sometimes people do not realise (or pretend not to understand, in some cases)what they are getting themselves into.
YANBU YANBU YANBU!

OP Sorry for this, but your DW is an absolute idiot.

I would put my foot down firmly and say a definite non negotiable no.

These people have form for it and dont seem to care either, even if your DW wanted to do it, you'd be responsible for it too.

Don't even dream of doing this.

So they're offering to give your wife some of the money if she you guys act as guarantor?

There's a word for this. Begins with b...

Bribe??

This all sounds really fishy.

They are stringing your wife along. I'm sorry to say that she sounds quite gullible. It must be very worrying for you that she is falling for it.

Wow. Your wife really isn't financially prudent!
Good luck living with her!

I think they will scam you. Dont do it.

I think you'd be totally justified to lose your rag. Does you DW understand credit risk, scoring and CCJ's etc. I can't begin to understand how someone with any sort of grasp of the risks involved would even consider it for a second.

She is being used. No decent person would ask a new loose friend to do this. They are going to default and you will be on the hook for the lot plus interest and probably also a load of fees incurred in recovering the debt.

I've seen this before.
The borrowing family promised the guarantors the earth, were their best friends ever and even called their new baby after one of the guarantors. Then they defaulted, did a moonlight flit so no one knew where they had gone and the guarantors were left in terrible financial difficulty.
Don't do it, OP, if you can't afford to just give them £6K becoming a guarantor for these people has the potential to wreck your life.

BreakingDad. Your DW wouldn't agree to become a guarantor without your knowdgle would she? She really seems to have swallowed whatever reasoning her "friend" is selling her.

So they are offering to give you some of the money that you have guaranteed? That's crazy!

You will have to pay it back to the bank anyway - plus interest and charges - when they default on the loan.

Try slapping your wife round the face with a wet fish - hopefully it might bring her to her senses.

DW as she started saying things like they would give us a bit of the money

Then why borrow more than they need?

Be very suspicious and check that she isn't signing anything on your behalf mate. This is ludicrous and you haven't got to the bottom of the story here.

NO!!!! DONT DO IT!

If you are going to be their guarantor, you may as well just give them 5k of your own money.

This is a fucking stupid idea, why on earth would your wife even consider it?

If they are crap with money, how is this loan going to be any different? They won't end up on the street fgs! Your wife is a bit of an idiot! You would putting your own families financial security at risk.

As far as knowing the woman through children / toddler groups is concerned, and even having friends in common, that counts for nothing in terms of certainty of them meeting their obligations.

We rented a property we owned to a couple we knew for similar reasons. We agreed to their bringing a cat. There were a number of other animals added to the menagerie and I had to put my foot down when I got wind of a dog. They added a satellite dish to the front of the property which had to be removed (it was a conservation area).

When it came to leaving, which they did with minimal notice when they realised they'd pushed it beyond the bounds of friendship, they left the carpets filthy (think as dirty as a scummy pavement), orange bacteria build up all over the bathroom, oven disgustingly dirty, paintwork touched up in different colours or not at all, shit splatters behind the toilet and the garden a foot high in weeds.

My point being that these are not genuine, close friends and they don't give a shit about you. And if they did, they wouldn't ask.

Oh dear. You and your wife need to have a serious chat about money, and just what she is doing with these friends of hers. Urgently, too.