Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
 
                                                         
 
                            January 19, 1999
                                                         
 
 
                            GSBCA 14716-RELO
 
 
                   In the Matter of REBECCA S. SAGER
 
 
        Rebecca S. Sager, Hampton, VA, Claimant.
 
        Mark Slowiaczek, Office of General  Counsel, Defense Finance
   and Accounting Service,  Denver, CO, appearing for  Department of
   Defense.
 
   GOODMAN, Board Judge.
 
        Claimant,  Rebecca S. Sager,  a former civilian  employee of
   the Department  of the Army,  has requested this Board  to review
   the agency's denial  of her claim  for reimbursement of  expenses
   incurred in the sale of her residence.  In January 1996, claimant
   made a  permanent change of  station (PCS) move from  Langley Air
   Force Base,  Virginia,  to  Limestone, Maine.    She  listed  her
   residence in Hampton, Virginia, for sale.  According to claimant,
   she reported for duty on February 4, 1996.  
 
        On  January 14, 1997,  claimant requested leave  without pay
   (LWOP) for  thirty days beginning  February 18, 1997,  and ending
   March 20, 1997, because of  a lack of adequate medical facilities
   for  her husband.    According to  claimant's  request, the  time
   requested would  allow her  to seek employment  in an  area where
   adequate facilities were  available.  This request  was approved.
   Claimant  and her  husband returned  to Hampton,  Virginia.   Her
   residence had not sold, and tenants who were renting the property
   vacated the premises before she returned.  
 
        Claimant asserts that  on March 19, 1997,  she was separated
   from  federal service,  and on  March  27, 1997,  she received  a
   telephone  call from agency personnel offering  her a position in
   Denver, Colorado,  which she  accepted.  The  agency agrees  that
   claimant resigned from federal service and provides these details
   regarding the assignment to Denver:
 
             In order for  the Agency to reassign  the claimant
        to the  position in  Denver, because  the claimant  had
 
        been  on LWOP,  resigned, and  was  separated from  the
        Agency,  it   was   first  necessary   to  cancel   the
        separation, extend her LWOP, and return her to  duty. .
        .  .   On April  7,  1997, travel  orders were  issued,
        authorizing  her   PCS  from   the  Limestone,   Maine,
        operating location to Denver, Colorado. 
 
             Effective  April  13,   1997,  the  claimant   was
        returned  to duty  at Limestone,  Maine,  and was  also
        reassigned from Limestone, Maine, to Denver, Colorado.
 
        On April 7, 1997, the agency issued travel orders relocating
   claimant  from Limestone, Maine, to Denver, Colorado.  Claimant s
   home  remained listed  for sale.    On April  14, 1997,  claimant
   entered into a contract to sell her Hampton, Virginia, residence.
   The purchaser was to have possession on a rental basis  until the
   date of  closing, "on  or  before June  30, 1998,"  approximately
   fourteen months  later.   On May 5,  1997, claimant  reported for
   duty in Denver, Colorado.
 
        On March 31,  1998, claimant requested LWOP for  a period of
   sixty days beginning May  24, 1998 and  ending July 23, 1998,  to
   seek employment  in the Virginia area.  She stated that "[d]ue to
   a   decline  in  my  husband's  health  and  possible  additional
   surgeries it  is necessary for me  to return to the  East Coast."
   Claimant also  submitted a request  to resign on March  31, 1998,
   with an  effective  date of  July 23,  1998.   On  June 3,  1998,
   claimant's  application for  the  Voluntary Separation  Incentive
   Program,  which  had  been submitted  earlier  in  the year,  was
   approved. 
 
        On  June  30, 1998,  claimant  closed  on  the sale  of  her
   Hampton,  Virginia, residence.  Her request for reimbursement for
   real  estate  expenses  arising  from  the  sale of  her  Hampton
   residence was denied by the agency.   The claim was denied on the
   basis  that  Limestone,  Maine, and  not  Hampton,  Virginia, was
   claimant s official duty  station from which she  was transferred
   to Denver.
 
                               Discussion
 
        Claimant  asserts that she was never  informed that the real
   estate expenses for  the sale of her Hampton  residence would not
   be  covered under  her travel  orders from  Limestone,  Maine, to
   Denver,  Colorado.  She further  asserts that she  was told by an
   individual in the Human Resources  Department in Denver that  the
    Transportation Agreement and  the JTR would extend  the coverage
   of my real estate expenses for  the sale of my home [in  Hampton]
   for another two years. 
 
        The  Joint  Travel  Regulations  (JTR)  C14000  entitles  an
   employee  to reimbursement for  certain expenses incurred  in the
   sale   of  a  residence  at   the  old  permanent  duty  station.
   Additionally, the JTR provides that 
 
        [S]ettlement for the  sale . .  . transactions must  be
        not later  than 2  years after  the  date the  employee
        reports   for  duty   at   the   new  [permanent   duty
        station]. . . .   Upon an  employee s written  request,
        the 2-year  period may  be extended  by the  commanding
        officer  (or designee) of the activity bearing the cost
        for up to an additional 1 year.  
 
   JTR C14000-B. 
 
        The agency  correctly denied  reimbursement.   Claimant  was
   transferred  from  Hampton,  Virginia,  to Limestone,  Maine,  in
   January  1996  and   reported  for  duty  on   February 4,  1996.
   According to  the above-quoted paragraph  of the  JTR, the  final
   date  for the  claimant to  settle  on the  sale of  her  home in
   Hampton was two years from February 4, 1996.  She did not ask for
   or receive an extension beyond that date.  She sold the residence
   on June 30, 1998, after the two-year period expired.
 
        Claimant asserts that  she was told that the  time limit for
   the  sale of  her  residence  in Hampton  would  be extended  for
   another two years  under her transfer  from Limestone, Maine,  to
   Denver.  If  she was so advised, this  was erroneous information,
   as the Hampton residence was not located at the old duty station,
   Limestone, Maine.  Absent a  statutory or   regulatory  provision
   allowing for reimbursement  of a  particular relocation  expense,
   neither   the agency  nor this Board  may authorize  its payment,
   despite the fact that an employee may have incurred costs in good
   faith  reliance  on  erroneous advice.    See,  e.g.,  Chesley E.
   Kimbrel,  GSBCA 13680-RELO, 97-2  BCA     29,043 (1996); Kevin S.
   Foster, GSBCA 13639-RELO, 97-1 BCA   28,688 (1996).
 
        The   agency  was  correct   in  denying  the   request  for
   reimbursement.
 
                                      ________________________
                                      ALLAN H. GOODMAN
                                      Board Judge