Guarantor or not guarantor? that is the question

[elvislives08]

Hi,

A friend of mine moved into a flat below me last year (the property is registered as a house but rented out as 2 flats). The landlord asked me if i would be his guarantor (he told my friend he did not have to pay a bond) and i said yes (he did not explain what it entailed) but i have not signed anything. My friend has now moved out of the flat without notice because of a mouse infestation. The landlord is now threatening to get the money of me. Does he have a leg to stand on given i did not sign anything?

[pingping]

I don't know the answer I'm afraid - but it may be worth you putting this in Law and /or property sections. they know their stuff in there!!

[themas]

Seems to me all 3 of you are at fault -

You for agreeing to something without realising what you could be letting yourself into;

The landlord for not getting you to sign a proper guarantor agreement & for not dealing with the mouse problem;

Your friend for moving out & dropping you in it by stopping paying the rent.

The 3 of you need to get together & sort it out. The landlord needs to deal with the infestation, & your friend needs to abide by his contractual obligation (i.e. to pay rent until his tenancy expires or the landlord finds another tenant) in return for that being done.

If none of that is possible the landlord may try to get the money from you. He will have to argue that you entered into a verbal contract, but if you were given no details (such as how much rent you were guaranteeing and for how long) he may have a problem getting this accepted if it goes to Court. nonetheless, a verbal contract can be enforced - it's just that it's more difficult to do as it depends on your word against his unless there are witnesses.

[elvislives08]

Ok so it could go wither way then could it?

I thought that the landlord, the tenant and myself would have to sign a written agreement for something like this though?

[hev]

A guarantor agreement has to be signed and witnessed for it to be valid. My husband stood guarantor for an ex friend some seven years ago and it came back to haunt us recently. Unpaid rent and damages totalling about �4000. We got a court summons but it got thrown out when we discovered that a new tenancy agreement had been done without my husbands signature. So if you didn't sign anything the landlord can't do anything about.

[themas]

I suggest you ask a solicitor to confirm the position for you. What hev says may be true, but I have always been under the impression that only a deed needs to be witnessed, & a tenancy agreement or guarantee is not - I believe - a deed. If I am right, then a guarantee is a simple contract - which can be verbal.

[sandmaster]

I agree all three of you are at fault - but I do not believe you would be found liable. The guarantee has to be in writing and you should have been offered legal advice as to the liability you were undertaking. But learn your lesson - never guarantee another person's liabilities. They can come back to haunt you many years after you have even forgotten what you had done.