A Guide to Rent Guarantors for Wembley Landlords
This three-minute read explains the role of rent guarantors.
- Is new to renting.
- Has gaps in their employment history or has recently started a new job.
- Is a student.
- Has a credit rating that is lacking in some way. That doesn’t necessarily mean the tenant has had financial problems; they may be young and have never had a credit card or other loans.
- A landlord must check a guarantor’s credit and employment records closely (just as you would with a tenant). Guarantors are often required to own a property and have a gross annual income three times the rent of the rental property they are acting as a guarantor for.
- Most landlords prefer the guarantor to be UK-based as it’s easier to run credit checks on them and take legal action if required.
- Issues can occur when people agree to be the sole guarantor on a rent agreement without realising this makes them liable for all outstanding rent and damage costs. For example, a mother agrees to be a guarantor when her daughter moves in with her boyfriend. However, the couple split, the ex-boyfriend disappears, and Mum is livid that she has to cover his payments.
- Landlords must ensure that a guarantor understands what they’re signing, or they could claim that they were misled or pressured into an agreement.