Help, Is my Deed of Guarantor valid??

[Jamesc1978]

Hi,

Long story short here. I signed a deed recently, very naively, expecting it to only be relevant to the length of the original agreed tenancy agreement.

 

It transpires that, in fact, I am actually liable beyond that date without exception:

 

"cannot be revoked during the continuance of any further tenancy between the Landlord and the Tenant"

 

and

 

"not to be revoked by, notwithstanding any alteration of the terms including increase in the amount of rent payable."

 

Yes, I am a complete twonk.

 

I am ok with the original 6 months but I am not happy with any continuation.

 

Having done a bit of homework I think the following points are pertinent to me declaring the deed null and void:

 

1) It was drawn up by the Letting Agents not the landlord, it's even on their headed paper.

 

2) I have never seen and have no copy of the Tenancy Agreement.

 

4) The Agent signed as the Landlord, despite it saying signed 'by the Landlord' and not 'on behalf of the landlord'.

 

5) We (myself and the agent) never had a witness, although there is a witness name and signature.

 

6) That 'witness' is actually the Office Manager not an unrelated third party.

 

Like I said, I'm not unreasonable and willing to honour the 6 months but from my internet investigations the deed isn't actually valid.

 

Can anyone comment? I'm desperate to get out of this as soon as I can for personal reasons.

 

Many thanks!

 

James

[R J Dearden]

You say that you have never seen a copy of the tenancy agreement - have you ever signed a tenancy agreement then stating that you would be guarantor or side contract?

Did you ever fill in any applicant forms for the agent to do their checks upon?

[Jamesc1978]

Hi,

I never saw the tenancy agreement, so I certainly never signed it or initialled it.

 

Basically, I nipped in after work the evening before my friend was due to get the keys, 31/10/10, (because at the 11th hour the agents rejected her mother as the guarantor due to low earnings) briefly read the Guarantors Deed (the Letting Agent even said they could void the deed once it's clear the tenant is paying the rent, which I foolishly believed). So there is a separate Deed to the tenancy agreement.

 

I gave the agent copies of my passport and pay slip proving sufficient funds, I didn't complete any application form.

 

One of my points is, I don't think the agent can sign the deed as the deed is between me and the landlord and they are very different to contracts etc. which someone else can sign??

[R J Dearden]

It is common place for an agent to sign agreements on behalf of the landlord if they have the authority to do so. You are unlikely to know about this authority as is likely to be

a separate agreement between the agent and landlord under the agency agreement.

 

Did you sign the guarantors deed?

[Jamesc1978]

I would like to re-iterate that I am very happy to honour my 6 month commitment, I'm certainly not looking to weasel out of that. It's only beyond that point I want out, mainly because I am leaving the country and don't wish to be anchored with any 'obligations'.

[beachkat]

Have a look at landlordzone.co.uk/forums/printthread.php?t=40718&pp=10&page=1

[R J Dearden]

OK - understand - if you are out of the country and do not have a permanent address within the UK then you cannot be chased or held liable for any debt. You cannot be taken to court as you would not have a permanent residential address within the UK.

 

You MAY wish to you write to the agency informing them of your verbal agreement at the commencement of the tenancy that this guarantee was for six months only and you will not be held responsible for any extensions and suggest the tenant seeks another guarantor for the tenancy.

[Jamesc1978]

Exactly. I'm seriously not looking to shirk my 6 month commitment, I've been a landlord before and understand what potentially hard work it is. It's just I'm leaving the UK so I'm not sure how it can be enforced anyway??

 

I will write to the agent explaining this, I've already spoken to them and they're not really interested.

 

Back to one of my original points though. I agree that an agent can sign agreements on behalf of the landlord (e.g. the tenancy agreement) but I think, from my research, that a deed cannot be signed by anyone but the interested party.

 

A deed is quite a 'special' document...if I'm correct, this could be of interest to landlords who use deeds and have the agent sign them.

 

Have a read of Law of Property (Miscellanious Provisions) Act 1989 - unfortunately I can't post the exact link because this site won't allow me due to my low number of posts. It's worded in the normal legal language so not too easy to understand! For me anyway...

[The Carpet Cleaners]

I believe that in order for it to be a proper deeded guarantor agreement you need to have seen and signed and dated the tenancy agreement and the inventory, without these being seen and signed then your are not a deeded guarantor,