Guarantor agreement template
A guarantor agreement is a document in which a guarantor promises a landlord that a tenant's rent and other obligations under a tenancy will be met. It is signed by the guarantor before or when the tenancy is agreed. The guarantor, the tenants, the property and the cap on what the guarantor can be asked to pay are different each time.
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What changes each time
20 values. Everything else is your wording, kept exactly.
The parties
- Date of the agreement
- Guarantor's full name and home address
- Landlord's name or all joint landlords' names, and address for notices
- Tenant's full name or each tenant's name
- Notice emails for guarantor and landlord
The tenancy
- Property address
- Tenancy start date
- Rent at the date of the agreement
- Date of the tenancy agreement
- Replacement guarantor or change agreed, if the tenancy has started
What the guarantee covers
- Which tenants are guaranteed
- Share of rent and other sums if one of several tenants
Limits
- Cap on the guarantor's liability
- Unlimited guarantee, if used
- Notice to end the guarantee for the future
- Earliest date notice can be given
Death of a tenant
- Day liability stops: the tenant's death, or the last tenant's or last family-member tenant's death
Landlord's agent and signing
- Agent's name
- Guarantor's name and date signed
- Landlord's or agent's name and date signed
The rules it usually needs
Written in plain English when the template is set up.
- One of several wordings
“Say the guarantee is given before or with the tenancy, or after the tenancy has started to replace a guarantor or agree a change.”
The second form releases the previous guarantor or records the change, and records the guarantor's £1.
- One of several wordings
“Cover a single tenant, all joint tenants, or one of several joint tenants.”
The wording changes from the whole of the tenants' obligations to only one tenant's share, with how the share is worked out.
- One of several wordings
“Cap the guarantee at a stated amount, or leave it unlimited for a guarantor such as a company.”
The unlimited form warns that the total could become large, and the sentence that rent increases do not raise the cap is left out.
- One of several wordings
“Set liability to stop at the death of the tenant, or for joint tenants at the last tenant's death or the last family-member tenant's death.”
Only the chosen day appears.
- One of several wordings
“Describe the rent as monthly or weekly.”
Only the chosen period appears.
- Only when…
“Include the right to end the guarantee for the future only when agreed.”
A notice period and, optionally, an earliest date are written in.
- Only when…
“Include the meaning of family member only when there are joint tenants.”
It lists the relationships that count.
- Only when…
“Include notices by email only when both sides agree.”
Both email addresses are written in.
- Only when…
“Add the agent's name to the data protection clause only when an agent is involved.”
The agent's name appears.
Questions people ask
What is a rent guarantor?
Someone who promises the landlord to pay the rent and other sums if the tenant does not. Landlords often ask for one when a tenant has a limited credit or income history.
Is a guarantor liable for the whole rent?
Only up to what the agreement says. This template gives a cap by default, and an unlimited guarantee is an option.
How long does a guarantor stay liable?
For as long as the tenancy lasts, unless the agreement lets the guarantor end the guarantee for the future by notice. It still covers sums that fell due before.
Can the landlord increase the rent and hold the guarantor to it?
The agreement says the guarantee continues where rent is raised through the statutory route in section 13 of the Housing Act 1988. Any increase does not raise the cap.
What happens if the tenant dies?
The agreement stops the guarantor being liable for rent from the day of the death, for the cases it describes, but not for anything that fell due before.
Use this template
It opens in DocuWeave as a template you can check, change and publish. Nothing is used until you do.