Should I contact the guarantor, prior to the eviction?

That sounds like a really pragmatic approach

Contact the tenant,. Make it clear you WILL chase them and their guarantor through the courts for every penny they owe and court findings against them will make their future very bleak in terms of being able to rent in future – also there will be no reference
Contact the guarantor…make it clear to them they are on the anvil if the tenant doesn’t pay and you will pursue them through the courts – there position is one of financial jeopardy
Explain to all concerned you need the property back urgently and as such are happy to take a pragmatic approach and waive all rent owed it they leave by date X. One time offer…
That might get the desired result. Might not. But nothing ventured, nothing gained…

I had a tenant who was drug dealing. He wouldn’t leave. I was 6 months in to the eviction process with no court date in sight. He left, with a grand in his hand….

go for it. That’s exactly what the guarantor is for. They knowingly signed up to be accountable for any debts that the tenant does not pay.
If granny doesn’t want to stump up the cash, she needs to be reminded the longer they stay there the bigger the bill will be and you will progress through the courts if necessary – again with more costs heaped onto the bill and she will be the one pursued!

I’d be cheeky and state half the arrears to be paid along with a surrender and you will call it a day.

Contacting the guarantor should have been your first move once your tenant had missed the number of days which hopefully was stipulated in your Tenancy Agreement.

My TAs state 14 days.

Yep, contact the guarantor, ensure enforcement may happen and make generous leave voluntarily offer

Obviously, these tenants are not going to react favourably to anything you do. A possible suggestion is to advise the tenants that if no positive response is received within seven days, any future correspondence will be sent to them and their guarantor.

The tenants may have forgotten that little detail of their failure to pay can leave their grandmother liable. It may just be enough to get them to act if not, you have given them the opportunity to avoid involving their guarantor in the process.

Either way, you have been fair in every way.

I can’t see it doing any harm in contacting the guarantor, after all that’s the reason the agreement was put in place. I am a bit surprised you didn’t do this when the arrears started accruing.

You say you will waive the rent arrears if they move out by the notice date.

You may wish to consider what you will do if they ask for a reference.

You should have contacted the guarantor as soon as your tenant went into arrears and before offering to write off £3,500 of your tenant’s arrears.
Most guarantees say something like “the guarantor undertakes to pay the Landlord within XX days of a receipt of a written demand from the Landlord addressed to the Guarantor. …”
I suggest you check your guarantee and make immediate demand on the guarantor.
The problem you now have is that by already offering to write off the £3,500 both guarantor and tenant know that you have a given up on recovering the £3500 and just want the tenant out of the property. .

If I was the guarantor I would be saying I’m not paying because you did not notify me when they first went into arrears as you have a duty of care to minimise the loss to the guarantor

Reply to the comment left by chris at 15/05/2024 – 11:35
Sadly, I think that’s a fair point Chris.

Hopefully the guarantor will have some conscience.

Reply to the comment left by chris at 15/05/2024 – 11:35
Agreed. OP should have involved guarantor before this.