Grandparents who help their grandchildren materially or financially are very numerous, in particular because the generation of "boomers" can, for the most part, enjoy a comfortable retirement, not having been reduced by various reforms, for careers with few incidents. Today, the economic, societal and family context has been disrupted:the situation has changed, periods of unemployment and part-time work are common, single-parent households are common, while rents, especially in large cities such as Paris, always blazing.
Pensioners therefore become, in certain cases, the only members of the family to have regular and secure income to help a child who divorces or a grandchild who leaves the nest to continue his studies. Is this accepted by donors?
The lessor can ask the tenant to indicate a person who acts as guarantor – a surety – if he considers that his income is insufficient or may be irregular and create unpaid rent. But beware, if the lessor has taken out unpaid rent insurance, he is not entitled to combine the guarantees by asking for a deposit in addition to this insurance, unless the tenant is a student or apprentice.
The guarantor designates the person, the guarantor of the tenant, who, in a deed of surety also indicated under the term "deed of suretyship" promises to pay in his place if he is in default.
Be careful not to confuse because the same term "deposit" is sometimes improperly used to refer to the "deposit" which is the sum of money paid to the lessor by the tenant at the signing of the lease to deal with any breaches of this one (restoration work during the inventory of fixtures at the end of the accommodation…).
If you agree to be surety, you make the commitment to pay in place of the tenant if necessary:you must therefore ensure that you can bear these charges, if necessary. The lessor does not hesitate, since he has the right to do so, to check the solvency of the guarantor, and generally asks for certain documents which aim to enable him to ensure in particular the identity and the level of income of the candidate. Pursuant to the ALUR Law of 2014, Decree No. 2015-1437 of November 5, 2015 sets the exhaustive list of documents that may be requested from a candidate tenant and his surety, by a lessor in the context of a rental (vide or furnished) from the private sector to justify its resources (one or more documents):latest tax notice, proof of payment of pensions and pensions, as well as, where applicable, proof of property income or income from securities and movable capital.
The simple bond is rarely used:it provides that the lessor first sues the tenant to obtain payment of the rents, before turning, in the event of failure or insolvency, to the surety.
The joint suretyship allows the lessor to contact the surety directly, in the event of non-payment, to obtain the payment requested directly and quickly.
In both cases, the person who is surety undertakes to pay the rent due, potentially with interest on late payment and penalties provided for in the rental contract, and even costs for repairing the accommodation if damage is observed. Theoretically, it is possible to provide a maximum amount of guarantee, contractually, but landlords almost always refuse to do so.
In the case of shared tenancy, if there is only a single lease including a solidarity clause (clause of indivisibility of the rental debt) between the joint tenants, this means that the sureties are indirectly jointly and severally liable with each other:you will be then required to pay the rents and charges due in the event of default by one of the joint tenants, if the lessor asks you to do so.
To avoid this, it is possible to include a clause limiting the commitment to a single named roommate (your child or grandchild) but landlords rarely accept. The alternative is to ask him for an individual lease with one lease per roommate, so that your surety commitment only covers the unpaid debts of the defaulting roommate named on the lease, namely your child or grandchild.
When the guarantee deed contains no indication of duration or if it stipulates that the duration is indefinite, the surety may terminate it unilaterally by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt addressed to the lessor. Attention, it will only take effect at the end of the current rental contract, whether it is the initial contract or its renewal, during which the lessor receives notification of the termination.
If unfortunately, the retired person who stood surety for his descendant dies, "The commitments of the sureties pass to their heirs if the commitment was such that the surety was obliged to do so." (art. 2294 of the Civil Code) which means that the suretyship commitment continues by transmission to the heirs of the deceased, but is limited to debts having "arose before the death of the surety, even if it was not yet due on this date" (Cass. civ., judgment of June 10, 1997, n°95-19352) excluding debts arising after the death.
So nothing prevents a senior who has the financial means to sign a joint surety commitment to help his relatives in difficulty or students. A model guarantee document to be personalized is available on the official website of the French administration.
