Can my landlord ask for a guarantor now?

[ikeakia]

I’ve lived here for two years in December and always paid 6 monthly. I asked my landlord in October if I could now pay monthly and he verbally said this was fine. However the mortgage for the property goes through his business so although the money put up was his, his business partner has an interest in my tenancy. It runs out on the 19th December and today he ( the partner) has messaged me informing me that if I’m to stay and pay monthly I now need a guarantor.

Is this right?

If you always pay and there’s never been a problem, why don’t you just ask a member of your family to act as a guarantor?

You’ll have the same issue with every rental you look at won’t you? You are likely to need a guarantor at the next property too, if your income is low enough to require this. The other option of course, is to pay six-monthly. Surely you’ll be in the same position? Are you looking at local authority housing?

Being a guarantor for someone isn’t that simple. You are not just liable for rent arrears but also any damage caused at the property.

It affects your credit record too, so you may have trouble getting a mortgage etc if you act as guarantor for someone.

It’s all rather complicated as to how it all came about, but I didn’t pay a deposit. It was just the 6 months upfront and that was only because of the business partner. The landlord was just happy to have me in the property and would have happily let me pay monthly from the beginning.

I wonder if the partner felt more secure with the 6 monthly rent and that maybe someone else has left loads of damage and not paid after a month.

I realise I’m just surmising about this

No member of family is eligible to be guarantor. I have one person I can ask but they’re a friend of my ex husband and quite understandably may not want to be involved.

And yes this will be a problem no matter what.

I’m the only person to have lived in this house as a tenant. It belonged to my landlord’s dad previously.

I can see that with no deposit held, it must feel a bit of a risk to have you as a tenant. asking for a guarantor is one way to mitigate that risk.

why do you want to change to monthly rent? and why were you able to pay 6 months at a time in the first place? if I was your landlord this would be ringing alarm bells for me - it would suggest that a previous source of funds had dried up and you would now be relying on a less stable income to make ends meet.

for example - if I had a tenant who was on benefits due to a disability but who had won a large compensation lump sum from the organisation responsible for that disability, I would have no qualms about renting to that person with 6 months paid at a time. however, once their lump sum ran out and they were just surviving on benefits I would start to worry because thay would mean that one adverse decision by the powers that be could stop the tenant's income and plunge me into mortgage arrears and a downward financial spiral.

All this would be mitigated with a large enough deposit. with a large deposit, the landlord's risk is reduced because in the event that the tenant gets into rent arrears, the landlord can start eviction proceedings, get the tenant out of there, and get the unpaid rent out of the deposit.

you have been a reliable tenant up till now. the easiest path for the landlord is to let you stay, but something needs to reassure them that they aren't taking on too much risk in doing so.

Which I would understand, but this isn’t the landlord asking for this. The business partner was made aware a month ago of my desire to change to monthly payments and has only now made it clear I need a guarantor giving me three weeks to find one when he could have done that a month ago.

The money is there to pay monthly, they know my finances, I only asked if I could pay monthly on the off chance and was told yes by my actual landlord. I also would have paid a month’s rent this month as a deposit if they had asked for it as that seems reasonable. I just don’t have what they’re asking for but at least if I’d known a month ago it would have given me more time to arrange an alternative.

If you were due to pay the next 6 month payment, surely you still have that available?

No, because I used some after the verbal agreement ( my mistake entirely). The money has gone on improvements to the house which the landlord had agreed, decoration and such.

So I don’t have the full amount anymore. And if they don’t want a month’s deposit and a month’s rent then I doubt an extra month on top of that ( which is what I could offer) would make much difference.

If we have to move then there’s nothing I can do about it, I’m just frustrated that I could have had longer to find somewhere. There are no properties available in our area that would mean I could get the children to school. And I would need a guarantor.

I’ll visit Citizen’s advice and see where I stand. I don’t owe anything so I can leave free and clear in December at least.

Ok I understand - silly, but what is done is done.

You don’t have to move immediately. There are strict processes in place. It’s a couple of months at the very minimum. Pay the rent on time and offer to give them an extra months buffer or something.

Hopefully they will realise that you are a good, paying tenant. It will cost them more to remove and replace you.

So to reiterate: STAY PUT. You won’t have to leave until end of January at the very soonest. And even then it’s tricky.

PS. Never ever make improvements to someone else’s asset! They get the benefit, you get the cost!

I know, but the landlord promised me the house for another 3 years until he retires. With no rent increase.

Not strictly relevant but he did say the business partner wanted me out as he feels they could get more money. But my landlord said he promised it to me and so I stay. Guess the business partner found a way around that.

It’s not helped by the fact that I have one child going to London for major surgery at the beginning of January with a 5-6 week recovery time.

One being referred for autism with meetings with the school over her lashing out and attacking TA’s.

And my last is Home Educated due to mental health and educational issues and the council are taking me to court despite proof of her education from myself and her private tutor.

I thought this was the one thing I had sorted. Their safe place.

Go back and negotiate, offer a months deposit, plus this month. You could pay 5 weeks every month after that until you are in credit.

Stress what a good tenant you have been.

What did you spend money repairing in the flat?

Just LISTEN to the PPs

They can't kick you out in the next 3 weeks. You don't have to leave.

They have to give you 8 weeks notice. And even then you don't have to leave...

The law has changed and the deposit is no longer allowed to exceed 4 week's rent.
The business partner is very short-sighted if he thinks that changing tenants will put his profits up. The extra costs incurred by advertising, running checks, preparing the tenancy agreement and inventories, cleaning, redecorating between tenants, replacing and repairing items, and doing it all again every six months to a year more than eat up the extra monthly income. He'd be far better off with a long-term tenant on a slightly lower rent.
Offer a deposit, pay your rent every month and wait for him to see sense.

I am a landlord and would be happy to re reference if no guarantor available

It is an issue that you have not paid a deposit and the LL has therefore not registered it in a scheme - that's illegal

Maybe offer deposit plus month up front?
Are you paying below market value and could you offer to raise rent slightly if that's a sticking point?

Has the money you spend gone on necessary improvements (in which case the landlord should pay) or was it just choice of decoration for you?

You are technically on a rolling contract and do not have to do anything until they serve you notice, then it's min 2 months, so you definitely do not have to go in 3 weeks

Of course they can't kick you out in 3 weeks but, assuming you want to stay there long term, could you try the below?

Offer 3 months instead of the 6 months for now and save up for the next 6 months during that time? I don't know if you can do this financially (I would struggle).

It is illegal not to register the deposit if one has been paid, but it's not illegal not to pay a deposit at all. That's up to the landlord.

you have at the absolute minimum the right to 2 month's notice. if they don't do the notice properly in accordance with strict rules it can be discounted and they need to try again so that gives gives you a little more leeway.

however even better than than that is talking to the landlord and asking if there is another way to give them security without a guarantor.

this is really none of the partner's business. obviously you can't tell them to butt out, but you could speak to the landlord and say you are finding it confusing having mixed messages having previously been assured of a 5 year term originally. this might be enough to get your landlord to tell them to butt out.

but the important thing is that even if none of this succeeds, no verbal notice, or even a written notice that doesn't strictly comply with the regulations, has any effect. you have rights.

You need to be careful not to break the terms of your lease, it will affect future rentals. There are plenty of people out there looking for property.

Can you have a word with the letting agent, you need things in writing

Sounds like greed to me. The business partner wants to find someone else so they can get more money, in the end they may end up losing out.

It's seems like for the last two years you have paid your rent and looked after the house. The next tenant could be the tenant from hell.

As others have said, do not move out until you have been told to by a balliff. Before that can happen your landlord has a process that they need to follow. Make sure that you keep paying the rent.

it is an issue that you have not paid a deposit and the LL has therefore not registered it in a scheme - that's illegal

No it isn't. Only if LL were to take a deposit and not register it into the scheme would make it illegal. But not paying a deposit at all does not mean it is illegal.

Quite normal. Students usually need a guarantor, if there isn't an individual willing/able to do it you can pay a company to do it for you unless you can pay your rent up front for the whole tenancy.