Have you been asked to act as guarantor for your child or another family member? Before you whip out a pen and sign the contracts, you need to hear Wendy’s story.
Wendy is in her mid- sixties, and lives in Perth with her son. She has a granny flat at the rear of her son’s property where she stays with her two dogs, Millie and Ellie.
A few years ago, Wendy was living in a three bedroom house that she originally purchased with her late husband Jo, who passed away a long time ago. She didn’t have a mortgage anymore, and she was looking forward to taking it easy in her retirement.
When Wendy’s daughter came to visit one day, she had an important question to ask. She was looking to purchase her first home, but the bank wouldn’t grant approval because she had only been in her job for a few months. Liz wanted her mum to act as guarantor on the loan to help her get across the line.
Of course, Wendy wanted to help her daughter, and after she spoke to a few friends she found that it was a fairly common practice to do this favour for one’s child. Without giving it too much thought, Wendy decided to sign the contracts that the mortgage broker had drawn up.
On the day that Liz settled on her home, Wendy dropped around with a bottle of champagne to help her celebrate this exciting new step. There was a lot of unpacking to be done, but her daughter had never looked happier.
Six months later, everything had changed. Liz was suddenly made redundant and lost her job. Her boyfriend had also ended their relationship a couple of weeks earlier, and she began to suffer from severe depression. The mortgage went unpaid for several months, and when Liz avoided contact with her lender, the house was taken by the bank and sold.
In the time that all of this was happening, property values had decreased slightly in the area, and due to the need for a quick sale, the property was sold for $80k less than what Liz originally paid. After the sale was finalised, the bank was not able to recoup all of their funds, so they focussed their attention on Liz’s guarantor.
Wendy had been under the impression that she might have to pay some of the missed instalments on her daughter’s behalf. She didn’t realise that the bank could demand that she pay the difference between the sale price and the loan amount. When Wendy didn’t have the $70k that the bank were asking for, they sold her house from under her.
This sort of scenario is more common than you might think. Parents naturally want to help their children succeed in the world, but it’s very important to understand what you’re agreeing to if your child asks you to act as guarantor. If you don’t understand the contracts, make sure you get a solicitor to investigate for you.
Remember too – there’s always another way of doing things, and sometimes a cash gift can be a better option. Or better yet, your child might need to wait until they are financially able to make the leap into home ownership.