Call/email guarantor before accepting?

Landlord Discussion
1

Hi Everyone,

My first time making sure a guarantor is on the application. Should I call/email them before accepting? I wondered what others do.

Thanks in advance.

Best wishes,
Jacquie

2

Sorry but hard to respond without more info… call/email for what? before accepting what?

Guarantors should be homeowners with regular income e.g. full time employment or pension. You should check that they own their property by doing a land reg search. Guarantors need to be referenced and verified with the same thoroughness as you would tenants (including bank statements showing regular income). Have you already done all that?

3

I always like to research the house the guarantor lives in. You can have a good look at it on google street maps, see what condition it is in, check at land registry if they own it and if mortgage on it, etc. If a bank has lent the guarantor money to buy the house this is a good thing as the bank has run checks on them and they are also tied down to the property and won’t be able to run away. I think you can also set up a notification on the land registry so that if they e.g. sell the house it will notify you.

4

yes, just search online for land registry notification. You can have alerts on up to 10 properties and you don’t have to own the property to set up an alert. If any LL on here doesn’t already have alerts set up on their properties, I’d recommend it to prevent property fraud.

5

Thank you all! Really helpful!

6

Is it a red flag if garantor is just a best bud from childhood who doesn’t own their own property? Guarantor should own their own property correct?

7

Yes Jacquie the Guarantor should own their own property as Graham states above if they just rent whats to stop them leaving the property and being untraceable at least owni g a house or having a mortgage is some aort of stability (and in a lot of cases) i have found work full time and have a certain amount of income (i dont know the figures however the experienced ll will be able to tell you

9

I have always visited both prospective tenants in their own homes and guarantors before letting a property. This provides a great insight as to how they live and in particular for a guarantor ensure they understand what that means and it’s not just a signature on a bit of paper.
If they refuse home visits I move on.
PS, I have never had a tenant miss a payment and yes I look after the properties well. Average tenure at least eight years.

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