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                               May 22, 1997
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                             GSBCA 13796-RELO


                     In the Matter of RAMONA CARRIGAN


     Ramona Carrigan, Charlottesville, VA, Claimant.

     Donald R. Kronenberger, Jr., Regional Attorney, Office of
General Counsel, Department of Agriculture, Atlanta, GA, appearing
for Department of Agriculture.

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     In 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
transferred Ramona Carrigan from Harrisonburg, Virginia to Louisa,
Virginia.  USDA gave Ms. Carrigan an advance of $5000 to cover her
travel and relocation expenses, and agreed to reimburse her for
sixty days of temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE).  USDA
also agreed to pay for storage of Ms. Carrigan's household goods
for sixty days.

     On October 5, 1995, Ms. Carrigan paid $20 to Hessian Hills
Apartments for what the receipt describes as an "application fee
for apartment rental."  That same day, according to Ms. Carrigan,
she wrote a check to Hessian Hills Apartments for a $200 security
deposit on an apartment, and another check to the apartment's
tenants to purchase their draperies.  There is no receipt for
either of these amounts.  There are no canceled checks because,
Ms. Carrigan says, the checks were never cashed.  Ms. Carrigan
supplied a copy of a page from her checking account register,
showing checks for the application fee, the security deposit, and
the draperies. 

     On October 9, 1995, Ms. Carrigan paid Hunters Creek Apartments
$565.  The receipt for this payment states that it was for
"application fee and rent" from November 1, 1995, through
January 30, 1996.  The words "Temporary Quarters" are written on
the receipt.

     Ms. Carrigan reported for duty in Louisa, Virginia on
October 16, 1995.  A few days later, her household goods were
picked up by a moving company.  Ms. Carrigan signed a lease with
Hunters Creek Apartments dated October 20, 1995.  The lease
agreement said that the term of the agreement began on October 20
and ended on October 31, 1995.  At Ms. Carrigan's request, her
household goods were not placed in storage.  Instead, they were
delivered to the apartment she leased from Hunters Creek
Apartments.  

     Ms. Carrigan signed another lease with Hunters Creek
Apartments dated November 1, 1995.  The lease agreement said that
the term of the agreement began on November 1 and ended on
November 30, 1995.  

     Ms. Carrigan signed a third lease with Hunters Creek
Apartments dated December 1, 1995.  The lease agreement said that
the term of the agreement began on December 1 and ended on
December 31, 1995.  The agreement also said that Ms. Carrigan
requested a lease addendum effective January 1, 1996.  The lease
addendum said that if Ms. Carrigan stayed in her apartment beyond
the term of the lease, she would become a month-to-month tenant. 
Ms. Carrigan paid one month's rent on December 1, 1995, and the
words "Temporary Quarters" are typed on her receipt.  Ms. Carrigan
also paid Hunters Creek Apartments $200 on January 1, 1996.  The
receipt for this payment states that this was a "deposit."

     On February 22, 1996, Ms. Carrigan submitted a travel voucher
to USDA.  She claimed $1166.50 for the first thirty days of TQSE
and $1255.47 for the second thirty days of TQSE.  Ms. Carrigan
claimed that her TQSE period began to run on October 20, 1995.  The
voucher also requested reimbursement for various other expenses,
not at issue here.

     On March 7, 1996, USDA denied Ms. Carrigan's claim because, in
its view, Ms. Carrigan had not established that the quarters she
occupied were temporary.  According to USDA's personnel records,
Ms. Carrigan's permanent address was at Hunters Creek Apartments
and, as of March 7, 1996, she still lived at that address.  

     On April 30, 1996, Ms. Carrigan submitted a second travel
voucher to USDA.  She claimed $1270.78 for thirty days of TQSE,
beginning on November 1, 1995.  On the expense record that
corresponds to this voucher, Ms. Carrigan said that she entered her
temporary quarters on October 20, 1995, that she vacated her
temporary quarters on December 30, 1995, and that she was waiting
to hear from Hessian Hills Apartments in between those dates.  In
a letter that accompanied her second travel voucher, Ms. Carrigan
stated that she intended to make her permanent residence at Hessian
Hills Apartments and that she initially intended to move there on
January 1, 1996, after the apartment she wanted became available on
December 18, 1995.  On December 18, she says, she learned that the
apartment she wished to occupy would not be vacated because the
tenants were having health problems.  Ms. Carrigan explained that
she had written checks for a deposit and for draperies, and she
supplied a copy of her checking account register.  In her April 30,
1996 letter, Ms. Carrigan said that she intended to move her
household goods at her own expense to Hessian Hills Apartments. 
She also said that she had changed her address in USDA's records
because she was not receiving mail, including mail from the
National Finance Center.

     On May 9, 1996, Ms. Carrigan submitted a third travel voucher
to USDA.  She claimed $1119.40 for thirty days of TQSE. 
Ms. Carrigan claimed that her TQSE period began to run on
December 1, 1995, and stated in her expense record that she vacated
her temporary quarters on December 30, 1995.  There are some
discrepancies between the amounts claimed on the May 9 voucher for
December 1 through 18, 1995, and the amounts claimed on the
February 22 voucher for those same days.  

     On May 14, 1996, USDA denied Ms. Carrigan's claim because, in
USDA's opinion, Ms. Carrigan did not establish that she occupied
temporary quarters.  According to USDA, Ms. Carrigan continued to
occupy her quarters at Hunters Creek Apartments in May 1996.  

     On June 3, 1996, Ms. Carrigan asked the General Accounting
Office (GAO) to review the denial of her claim.  On July 17, 1996,
claims involving expenses incurred by federal civilian employees
for official travel and transportation were transferred from GAO to
the General Services Board of Contract Appeals.  Legislative Branch
Appropriations Act, 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-53,  211, 109 Stat. 514,
535 (1995); Determination by Acting Director of the Office of
Management and Budget (June 28, 1996); Delegation of Authority from
the Acting Administrator of General Services (July 17, 1996).  The
authority to settle these claims has more recently been vested by
statute in the Administrator of General Services.  General
Accounting Office Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-316,  202(n), 110
Stat. 3826, 3843 (1996).

     USDA prepared a report concerning this case in September 1996,
and stated that Ms. Carrigan was still living at Hunters Creek
Apartments at that time.

     According to statute and the Federal Travel Regulation, when
an employee is transferred from one permanent duty station to
another, the agency shall pay the subsistence expenses the employee
incurs while occupying temporary quarters, provided certain
requirements are met.  5 U.S.C.  5724a(a)(3) (1994); 41 CFR ch.
302.  The regulation defines temporary quarters as follows:

     Generally, the term temporary quarters refers to lodging
     obtained from private or commercial sources for the
     purpose of temporary occupancy after vacating the
     residence occupied when the transfer was authorized. 
     However, occupancy of temporary quarters that eventually
     become the employee's permanent residence shall not
     prevent payment of the temporary quarters allowance if,
     in the agency's judgment, the employee shows
     satisfactorily that the quarters occupied were intended
     initially to be only temporary.  In making this
     determination, the agency should consider factors such as
     the duration of the lease, movement of household effects
     into the quarters, type of quarters, expressions of
     intent, attempts to secure a permanent dwelling, and the
     length of time the employee occupies the quarters.  

41 CFR 302-5.2(c) (1995).

     In its March 7, 1996 report, USDA mentioned the factors listed
in the regulation and explained that Ms. Carrigan had not provided
any evidence to establish that she meant to stay only temporarily
at Hunters Creek Apartments.  The agency also noted that Ms.
Carrigan moved all of her household goods into Hunters Creek
Apartments.  In response to the agency's decision, on April 30,
1996, Ms. Carrigan submitted another voucher to USDA.  She
explained the arrangements she made to move to Hessian Hills
Apartments, and she explained why that move did not occur.  She
also sent USDA her short-term leases with Hunters Creek Apartments. 
She said that she intended to pay to move her household goods to
Hessian Hills Apartments, and she explained why she changed her
address in the agency's records.

     In its May 14, 1996 decision denying Ms. Carrigan's claim,
USDA did not mention the factors listed in the regulation, the plan
to move to Hessian Hills Apartments, or the short-term leases. 
USDA denied the claim because, it said, there was no evidence that
Ms. Carrigan made any definite, substantial efforts to secure new
quarters.  In fact, Ms. Carrigan did supply information to show
that she intended to stay at Hunters Creek Apartments temporarily. 
Most important, she established that she entered into a series of
very short-term leases.  Only on January 1, 1996 did she convert
her lease to a month-to-month term and pay Hunters Creek Apartments
a security deposit.  In October 1995, she wrote checks for a
security deposit to Hessian Hills Apartments and for draperies in
an apartment there.  In addition, two of Ms. Carrigan's receipts
from Hunters Creek Apartments contain the notation "Temporary
Quarters."  It makes sense that Ms. Carrigan did not make any
efforts to secure new quarters before mid-December 1995, because
until then she thought that she was going to move to Hessian Hills
Apartments on January 1, 1996.  Ms. Carrigan's inability to move to
Hessian Hills Apartments was due to the health problems of the
tenants who occupied the apartment Ms. Carrigan intended to lease,
and not due to any actions of Ms. Carrigan.  

     Contrary to the statement contained in USDA's May 14, 1996
decision, Ms. Carrigan did supply information to establish that she
intended to secure quarters other than those at Hunters Creek
Apartments.  The information she supplied, which was not addressed
by USDA in its decision, outweighs the fact that Ms. Carrigan moved
her household goods to Hunters Creek Apartments, which is the only
factor that USDA identifies as weighing against Ms. Carrigan's
position.  USDA has not explained why it exercised its discretion
by disregarding the evidence supplied by Ms. Carrigan on April 30,
1996.  On balance, the evidence supplied by Ms. Carrigan
establishes that she intended to stay at Hunters Creek Apartments
temporarily and then move to Hessian Hills Apartments. 

     Ms. Carrigan is entitled to be reimbursed for TQSE.  We agree
with USDA that it is unclear what Ms. Carrigan is claiming for
TQSE.  She submitted three vouchers for different periods of time
and different amounts, and she sent USDA receipts for some
expenses.  Ms. Carrigan and USDA should work together to calculate
the amount of TQSE due.




                                   _______________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge