Should the guarantor be told about pets?

Should the guarantor be told about pets?

9:48 AM, 16th November 2023, About 5 months ago 5

Text Size

Hello Property118 memebers. My question is if there are changes to a tenancy for anoccupational contract in Wales must the guarantor be told of these changes?

In the case I am considering it’s about applications made by the tenant to add pets to the property. This can obviously significantly increase the risk of damages for the landlord and the guarantor to cover.

If the guarantor is not told about the addition of pets to the tenancy could the guarantor legitimately refuse to pay for damages caused by a pet by saying that there are no pets mentioned in the original tenancy agreement?

Any advice or experience offered would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Chris

 


Share This Article


Comments

Judith Wordsworth

10:37 AM, 16th November 2023, About 5 months ago

If there are changes to a tenancy for an occupational contract in Wales must the guarantor be told of these changes? Yes

If the guarantor is not told about the addition of pets to the tenancy could the guarantor legitimately refuse to pay for damages caused by a pet by saying that there are no pets mentioned in the original tenancy agreement? Yes

The guarantor should be told of all amendments to the original tenancy they signed up to guarantee

Michael Booth

6:50 AM, 17th November 2023, About 5 months ago

The guarantor needs to be told of any changes to any agreement made between landlord and Tennant and has the right to remove their gaurentee.

Ian Narbeth

11:34 AM, 22nd January 2024, About 3 months ago

Reply to the comment left by Michael Booth at 17/11/2023 - 06:50The guarantor should be asked to agree to changes to the tenancy agreement. If the tenancy is amended to remove a prohibition on pets, that is very material as it increased the likelihood of a claim against the tenant for property damage. It is not so much a case of having "the right to remove their guarantee" but of the tenant seeking to avoid liability when a claim is made.
Worse, from a landlord's perspective, even if the claim is unrelated to the pet, for example a claim for rent arrears. the guarantor may still avoid liability if the variation was made without his consent.
The original guarantee wording may say that the guarantor remains bound by variations. However, that does not always work and, given the cost and complexity of litigating abstruse legal points, the safe course is to get the guarantor to sign any amending documentation and expressly to consent to it.

Reluctant Landlord

16:14 PM, 22nd January 2024, About 3 months ago

As a guarantor, they might not be happy to agree to this amendment and then you are stuffed. I'd stick with no pets if I were you unless the guarantor is happy to sign for literally an unlimited amount! Who knows what damage Fido is going to make???

Tom Jenkin

13:09 PM, 24th January 2024, About 3 months ago

Speaking as a ex guarantor, this happened to me . I was guarantor for my niece because the landlord would not accept her dad as a guarantor because he was in the armed forces.
Anyway when she moved in she had no pets and there was a clause in the AST saying she had to get permission from the landlord for any pets .
Anyway 6 months in she gets 2 cats , landlord gave her permission but he never told me as guarantor, if he had told me I would not agreed to continue to be her guarantor. Anyway she leaves after the end of the tenancy, the landlord comes after me for damages due the cats doing what cats do . Told him I would not pay due to him not notifying me about a change in the tenancy, takes me to court, I get the deposit back plus interest and all my legal costs due to the fact he didn't tell me about the change .
He ended up £8,700 out of pocket.

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

or

Don't have an account? Sign Up

Landlord Tax Planning Book Now