Uggh what to do (long)

Specialties Travel

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I've been with this company for 14 months. My recruiter has always had terrible communication with me, but he pays soooo well and there is never any issues with my pay, so I keep going. But things have gotten really bad and I'm this ready to throw in the towel.

First, he has yet to realize that for the past 2 extensions, I've never signed and faxed him the contract. But that's a whole different ballgame, I'm just painting the picture for you all :).

1) my "contract" with a certain hospital was supposed to end at the end of Sept. I did not want to extend b/c they only offer 4 week extensions at a time, I need more stability than that and it's an issue with housing. I normally sublet from someone for my 13 week contracts and sometimes I'll sign a sublet for longer if I'm sure I'll keep getting extended. But I don't feel comfortable signing a lease for any longer than what the hospital says they need me for with this assignment. They are training several nurses and they will likely not need me for much longer. Did u notice I said my contract was supposed to end at the end of September? I should also mention that in the the 3rd week in Sept, I emailed my recruiter to ensure he notified his contacts that I will not be extending. He said everyone should be aware, he's done his part.

My last day was supposed to be on a Friday. BUT on Thursday, my manager approached me in freak out mode saying she was not aware that I was leaving. She begged me to stay. I told her my housing concerns and she said she can now offer me an 8 week extension but nothing more is promised. I looked at Craigslist quickly and found nothing to sublet for 8 weeks, I contacted folks on AirBNb that advertised full housing, but nothing transpired. I don't do roommates or couch surfing anymore b/c of 2 bad experiences. I wanted to help my manager so I contacted my recruiter and told him I'll accept the new contract of 8 weeks but I need housing. I had no choice but to take all of last week off while he figured things out for housing. Also, I couldn't work last week because I made plans - plans because u was supposed to be off anyway. My manager was cool with me having last week off while this was sorted out.

I finally heard from him last Thursday about housing. He could only find one place (a 1 bedroom) that was in an acceptable price range (2000.00/mo) for corporate housing. The others were in the 2200 + range. This would take a chunk out of my pay, but so be it, I said yes. He then emailed me Friday night saying it needs to be my name on the lease, but he will absolutely make all payments. Whatever. I filled out the online app Friday. He emailed me and said I cannot move in until Tuesday (today). I told him that is fine, that I'll book a hotel thru priceline for Sunday and Monday night. My manager said she really needed me to be there on Monday, so booking a hotel was my only option. My assignment is in a major city. My hotel rate was decent, but they killed me with parking fees when I arrived. Not such a great deal afterall.

So, Monday evening, he emails me and said the apartment will not be ready on Tuesday, they need to check my references, verify that I've never been evicted, etc. I ended up booking at a diffetent hotel for Tuesdsy night because the hotel I was staying at was already booked for Tuesday. Such a pain especially considering I take public transit to work and I'm needing to figure out which subway, etc to take with every new hotel I stay at.

So here we are Tuesday. I sent him am email to ensure wed is my new move-in date. He said he will know more Wed afternoon. Hello???? He knows I'm only booking hotels one night at a time. Grr!!

So so to sum everything up:

-I'm spending a crazy amount on hotels/parking this week to placate my managers work needs.

-I have no idea when my company will say it's ok for me to move in to my new place.

- i don't like the idea of me signing the lease. Is this a normal request?

-I don't want to do this another night, it's inconvenient and expensive. I'm supposed to check out in the morning. I will go to work as planned on Wed.

If he emails me Wed (tomorrow) and says the apartment won't be ready until Friday or so, am I being unreasonable for telling him no and not returning to work on Thursday? It will screw my manager, but enough is enough.

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I would tell your manager that the agency was unable to provide housing and give your apologies. Tell your recruiter a week and a half of wasted time is enough and goodbye.

This problem was largely self inflicted though so I hope you never let it happen again. Also, don't sign a lease if the agency is paying. It is their responsibility, not yours.

You did agree to the contracts. You started performing on them by going to work. Those contracts will hold up in any court, even unsigned.

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Ok I really hoped you would respond and I appreciate your response, but how was this self-inflicted? My recruiter is making the housing promises and then breaking it. I'm trying to make this work and am being extremely flexible. What should I have done differently?

also, if I don't return to work after Wednesday, will I be breaching the pseudo contract, even if he says I can move in by the weekend?

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You agreed to extend knowing housing was a problem. It was, and is! Whose decision was that?

Can't tell you how the legal stuff might shake out. You agreed to extend if they got you housing. Seems to me they have breached that agreement several fold. Up to you if you want to throw good money after bad with continued hotel nights and then be fully responsible to pay for an apartment leased in your name.

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I agree with Ned that you may get yourself into a legal pickle here. My best advice to you would be to "keep it simple." Forget the housing, get out of the hotel, go into an extended stay where everything is included to give yourself a piece of mind, finish this 8 week assignment (it's your reputation you want to protect) and start working on finding another agency for your next assignment (it will make you feel better to know you have something else in the works). Best of Luck!

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Hey guys just wanted to update you and tell you that everything worked out in my favor. I've been placed in an awesome lakefront apartment and the lease is not in my name! Thank you all for reading my OP - man, I was a hotmess that evening!!

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Great news! How did you get such great housing?

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The day after my OP, I text my recruiter and told him I do not plan on returning to work since I don't have housing, while reminding him that I ou agreed to an extension contingent on housing. I guess that put the fire under his orifice because I was I was "moved" in by that evening. And instead of it costing 2k/month, it's only 1600 - score! The only downpit is it us an hour commute one way by transit, and I am paying for my parking here which is 150/month. But otherwise I am very happy...jogging around the lake while looking at the beautiful skyline is so awesome. I love this city so much (Chicago) that I'm thisclose to selling my condo in my hometown and just buying a place here, and getting a perm job learning a new specialty. Travel jobs in Stepdown are not easy to find and do not pay as much as others. I'm in conflict with myself about moving here b/c I owe very little on my condo at home...25k and taxes are 1500/yr. but in Chicago, I'll end up buying a place for around 220k with 20 percent down, taxes around 4k/yr. ahh, decisions!

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Chicago seems awesome! I was there for just a few days a month ago. It was exciting enough that I'd like to do a travel assignment there. Just Spring or Fall I think.

Congrats again on the housing.

Depending on where the market is in Chicago and where you live, you might do better renting than owning. A twenty year loan at 4% on 220K (I'm including your down payment as it represents lost opportunity) comes out to about 273K over the life of the mortgage of interest, taxes, and PMI. Assuming you can get a fixed rate that low. That is $1,300 a month for that alone versus $1,600 for renting. If you rent your current condo for more than $425 (that includes taxes), you should be ahead!

A thirty year loan will cost you even more in interest. Of course, it is a complicated decision, and my math may be wrong to boot.

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Let me know if u do an assignment here, I can possibly help with housing :)

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