To not be a guarantor for my sister

[PinkShimmerSparkle]

Even though this means they and their 3 children might become homeless.
My DSis and her DH are not fantastic with money, I always assumed that they made sure that bills, mortgage etc were paid and all their nights out and their regular purchases of new technology, holidays etc were bought from disposable income but in hindsight it is obvious that they were always spending beyond their means, this is none of my business and I absolutely would never get involved or say anything.
They have both been working until recently when her DH left his job, she tells me that they have missed one mortgage payment and have now been issued an eviction notice.
They are looking at renting but everything requires a guarantor and she has asked me and DH to be one, as she knows we both earn and can save every month, but this is only because we are careful with what we spend.
I have said no but feel bad that they might become homeless.
AIBU?

Aside from the obvious lies she’s telling you. What is she telling you her plan is for paying rent when her husband is not working? I mean she might as well ask you to pay the rent for them as it seems unlikely they have any way to do it themselves.

I was a guarantor for my son when he moved into a rented house share.

He was a bloody nightmare always missing payments but the estate agents got straight on the phone to me to inform me as i was his guarantor. I made sure he paid his rent. This happened a few times and they were always straight on the phone so i knew what was going on. Luckily he moved out after a year.

I am surprised the Landlord/Estate agent didnt contact the poor parents on that tv show, it would have been less of a shock to them if they were aware. I am not sure how bailiffs could be involved when they were never told of the debt. But we dont really know the full story.

I would never be a guarantor again.

I would be warning my parents.

I wouldn't be a guarantor but if I could afford it I might agree to cover mortgage payments for a set time but only if you can afford to never see the money again.

I agree with PP’s that she’s not telling the truth about their financial situation, they’ve clearly missed multiple mortgage payments and probably have other significant debt.

Advise her to contact Shelter and/or CAB for advice and getting a repayment plan sorted out. You simply can’t be a guarantor in this situation, you’ll end up paying all their bills.

YANBU. Judge Judy would be against it.
“Never co-sign on anybody’s behalf for anything, and I mean not ever!” Judge Judy has bellowed.

This is what I came here to say, if she's started out by lying to you so you'll be a guarantor, I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot poll!

I say this as someone who has had to ask my FIL to be our guarantor for our first rental when we were in our early 20s, and my DM as guarantor for our first mortgage (as we had a small deposit and it was just a couple of years after the financial crash and banks were careful back then.)

We needed guarantors because we were unknown quantities to the EAs and the bank, but our parents knew we were responsible and good with money. I would never have expected our parents to be guarantors if we had a string of missed payments and debt behind us and certainly not if I lied and said I'd only missed one mortgage payment which resulted in me getting evicted.

OP if she sends anymore texts just say you can't be a guarantor for someone who is not telling you the entire financial picture. Such a massive risk. Even if she came clean and told you the full extent of the mess she's in, the fact that she would try to get you on the hook with a lie in the first place would be a firm "no". Xx

And this ^

I knew a mother who did this to her daughter over a £10,000 loan.

This is very true as mortgages are often cheaper than rents. Your sister is lying to you because it takes over 10 months and close to a year before a mortgage can be foreclosed. Your sister could have asked for interest only for 6 months, the government put this option in place during the cost of living crisis. I'd suggest to your sister they sell any tech stuff they don't need to raise money for deposit on rental.

Plus should you want to remortgage/ take out a new loan for anything they will take into account the extra money you potentially are on the hook for each month so effectively reduce your borrowing power

just don’t
she might be your sister
but she isn’t your friend

Aside from anything else, they are delusional if they think they can walk in to rented accommodation. The rental market is dire for availability at the moment. Rents are as high as they’ve ever been and round here there are 45 applicants per property. This means a landlord can choose the absolute best tenant. Unemployed and with a shit credit score will make renting for them virtually impossible.
I also don’t believe the council has a duty to house them since they will have made themselves voluntary homeless.

You can't fix their debt habit by giving them more credit.

Judging by what you say about the circumstances there is no way in hell I would agree to this.

It is just asking for trouble.

Maybe if it were me I would try to make some excuse to soften the blow. Like say I couldn't do it because not sure of employment status or maybe my mortgage holders won't let me or I have a big loan myself or something of that nature. But if they are truly desperate I would expect them to come back and pressurize you on that.

Absolutely no way. They've not paid their mortgage for a long time. To get into that mess.

If their house is repossessed by the bank, and they stay till actually thrown out by the bailiffs, that is not voluntary homelessness and the council will have to put a roof over their heads. That roof will not necessarily be a house though, it might just be a B&B.

I wouldn’t be a guarantor for a rental but I would offer a one off help with larger deposit to secure tenancy if I could afford it.

The only way she is likely to have an eviction order for missing one payment is if there is already a suspended possession order in existence. If that is the case her husband was ridiculously reckless leaving his job voluntarily.

I am a landlord and there is no way I would be a guarantor for anyone. You potentially take on all of the risks, with none of the control. If they didn’t pay the rent and had to be evicted, which takes many months, you could be responsible for all of the unpaid rent and legal costs. It’s like signing a blank cheque.

Without wishing to sound harsh it seems like the short term pain of needing to go into temporary accommodation might be worth the long term gain of a secure social housing tenancy. ( assuming they are not classed as intentionally homeless if they are judged to have sufficient funds to have paid the mortgage).

You should never be a guarantor unless you are fully prepared to pay and from your explanation that sounds highly likely. As many others have said eviction notices are not issued for one missed payment and if they did have a possession claim through the Court they could go to Court and arrange a suspended order based on a repayment plan - providing they could realistically afford to repay what they owe. Eviction is the last resort for lenders and the Courts. She is not being honest

Just tell her that guarantors need to have thew kind of money for them if they default and you don't have that cash to spare. Your saving are tied up and the rest is already allocated.

You don't have to feel guilty or sound judgemental. It's a horrible situation to be in.

The fact your sister is telling you they are being evicted after missing one payment is a lie. That alone means you can't trust her. They never evict when you've missed just one payment. Definitely been going on for a good while. Do NOT be a guarantor whatever you do.

I wouldn’t be a guarantor for a rental but I would offer a one off help with larger deposit to secure tenancy if I could afford it.

So would I. There used to be a decent landlord in my area who would accept a deposit of 6x monthly rent in lieu of a guarantor. Back then, 6 months was about the time it took to get a possesion order, so it covered a large chunk of the lost income.

I don't do homelessness work any more, but I think that's no longer allowed because there's a maximum amount of deposit a landlord can charge.

Thank you for the responses.

I know people probably won’t agree with this but I am not telling my parents, I already have a very strained relationship with them and keep them at arms length to protect myself. If I tell them, it will be my fault for them getting in this mess and they will then apply more pressure for me to be a guarantor.

I have asked DH how he would feel about us paying the missed payment, but only directly to the bank. I am not giving them money as I’m not sure they will use it as intended.
We could gift them one payment from our savings and this may make me feel less guilty.

But it isn't the one missed payment.

Making one payment wouldn't touch the sides, OP. They must have missed loads more than that.

If there really is a repossession order out, they'll be months behind with their payments.