Estate agent lied about guarantor

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We just found out that our estate agent lied about a guarantor. There is one but it is a totally different person than who we were told it was. We don't know the person or saw a credit check on them. Do we have grounds for complaint?

Forgive my ignorance, but does it matter as long as there is one?

Of course, when you have paid for a service and not receive it you always have cause to complain.

I complain about anything where I’ve been shortchanged for whatever reason, not things where the T&Cs have been met but I’m disappointed, but where they have not.

I have a pretty good response record. I also send thank yous when service has been better than expected.

Did the original guarantor that you were told about fail referencing?

Thanks for replies! The estate agents told us the names originally, and now we are in the process of sadly taking legal action against tenants for extensive damage to the property and as guarantors, the guarantors might have to be liable for those costs.

@VioletPickles it does matter as we might not have gone ahead with the original tenancy depending on the credit profile etc of this guarantor. We have no idea about the person, their credit history, or anything.

@starlight2023 we've only just seen the name, never saw the credit score or report for the person. The agent was very evasive when we asked for the guarantor agreement, I guess this was why.

Did you see the credit score for the person who you thought was the guarantor?

@TeaKitten I'll have to check, we were told by the estate agent they passed the credit check etc fine at the time, so we may have taken their word for it. I'll have to see if I have any record of that.

If there's a guarantor who passed the credit check then why does it matter?

When I worked in lettings when we referenced a guarantor though a referencing service such as Homelet, the report you received just gave the most basic information e.g. have they got any IVAs or CCJs against their name, did they earn enough to pay for the rent if the tenant failed (or have enough in savings)

And then they were either given an unacceptable or an acceptable.

The agent wouldn't have been allowed to share a credit report with you or any banking information, only the report from the referencing company which wouldn't have said a lot tbh.

Of course they should have told you the person had changed but surely you were provided with a copy of the tenancy?

There's not much to complain about here as far as I can see. The real reason your upset is because you're having to go through the ordeal of trying to get your money and take back ownership of the property, which is a pretty horrible position for you, I hope it's resolved quickly. Do you have insurance?

@Fiddleyflop in your glee to troll me, you misread the post.

The quotes you've used refer to the person who is actually the guarantor, who we've only just seen the name of, after 3 years. The estate agent lied and gave us the name of another person 3 years ago, who they said had passed the credit check. So we've been misled for 3 years. We'd never likely have known if we didn't have to take legal action now against the tenants.

It's a huge estate agent by the way.

No @RedRobyn2021 we are angry because we were lied to, that's what my post is about.

The guarantor was a huge part of us agreeing to these tenants, and it turns out we were given the credit check of someone else. I have no idea about the other person's credit, profile or anything.

@RedRobyn2021 nothing had changed and yes we had a copy of the tenancy agreement and know the t&C's of it very well. The estate agent lied from day 1 and told us the name of a guarantor, at the time of signing contract, and that they had passed credit checks, etc,l. But the problem is, we just found out this person actually wasn't a guarantor at all, at any time.

I'm not sure I understand either. If, as a poster has suggested, you're not allowed to know specific details behind a name and that they're solvent, does it matter that it's a different name from the one you have listed? If the 'new' guarantor has also passed the credit score to the agent's satisfaction, what is the difference?

And what are you wanting to haopen as a result of this complaint?

@TheCrystalPalace I'm posting her in case anyone has direct knowledge of the implications., e.g., lawyer, ombudsman, etc.

I have no idea about the credit rating or anything else of the other person, I never had the opportunity to see it, or make a decision on it. For all I know the person didn't have a good credit score so they gave a false name to us at the outset, to get us to sign the original rental contract to the tenants. It's obviously extremely dishonest.

But if I understand correctly, you didn’t no about the details of the original persons credit check either, just took the estate agents word for it? And you don’t no that the actual guarantor doesn’t have good credit yet? The guarantor hasn’t caused the damage in any effect, and they are still liable for the costs.

Are you sure that the guarantor hasn’t just been changed somewhere along the line? Eg because the original guarantor has died?

It’s not ‘obviously extremely dishonest’ yet because you don’t have all the information yet, and you didn’t check the credit report the first time round either. I think you are focusing on the wrong thing here, surely getting the information for the actual guarantor and seeing what their credit score is is a better use of your time?

@TeaKitten the estate agent gave us emailed confirmation that the guarantor passed the credit check, and also that they had a specific verified income of X amount, and what their age and profession was. But this person as we've just discovered was never a guarantor at all!

The EA has been extremely hard to deal with tbh and we had to really push for confirmation of guarantor info because of the need to inform them of legal action. We had to ask them around 10 times for this info, and then go to a senior manager, before anyone would send it to us.