Board of Contract Appeals
                 General Services Administration
                      Washington, D.C. 20405





                  ______________________________

                         August 30, 2001
                  ______________________________


                         GSBCA 15609-RELO


                 In the Matter of DAVID B. NELSON


     David B. Nelson, Lusaka, Zambia, Claimant.

     Lynn Mercer, Chief of Operations Manager, Public Health Service, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA,
appearing for Department of Health and Human Services.

HYATT, Board Judge.

     In December 2000, claimant, David B. Nelson, a public health advisor employed by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was transferred in the interest of the
Government from Atlanta, Georgia, to Lusaka, Zambia.  Although he had previously
transferred four times within the continental United States, this was his first international
relocation with the Government.  

     Because he was unfamiliar with the rules applying to overseas transfers, Mr. Nelson
consulted with the CDC travel specialist about the categories of expenses that would be
reimbursed in connection with this transfer.  On at least three occasions, he inquired whether
he would be eligible to recover real estate expenses and was asured that these would be
reimbursed in the same way as for a domestic move.  When the travel specialist asked if he
wanted to use a relocation company he declined, but told her that he might sell his house in
Atlanta.  She did not suggest that there would be any difficulty with reimbursement of
allowable expenses, and budgeted money for real estate transaction expenses incurred in
connection with the move.  The travel specialist also supplied claimant with general written
instructions describing entitlements associated with both domestic and overseas transfers.
These instructions do not make clear that employees transferring overseas are not permitted
to be reimbursed for real estate expenses incurred in the sale of their homes at the old duty
station at the time they accept the assignment.  

     Mr. Nelson sold his house and, after submitting a claim for reimbursement of the
expenses incurred, was advised that the expenses could not be paid in connection with a
transfer abroad.  CDC concedes that the travel specialist misinformed claimant and has
expressed regret that he was misled.  CDC has also taken steps to correct the dissemination
of inaccurate information with respect to entitlements of employees transferring to foreign
countries.  Nonetheless, CDC has declined to reimburse Mr. Nelson for the real estate
expenses since they are not permitted to be paid by law.  Mr. Nelson has asked the Board to
review this determination, pointing out that he reasonably relied on the advice of the travel
specialist.  

                            Discussion

     CDC has properly determined that it has no authority to reimburse claimant for these
expenses.  When an employee located in a nonforeign area is assigned to a post of duty in a
foreign country, the general assumption is that the employee will retain a residence in the
nonforeign area with the expectation of eventually returning to the old official station.  Real
estate expenses are authorized only in the event the employee returns to a different duty
station within the United States.  By statute, then, the agency is prohibited from reimbursing
real estate transaction expenses incurred by an employee transferred to a location outside of
the United States if the sale occurs prior to official notification that the employee will be
returning to an official station other than the one from which the employee was transferred
overseas.  5 U.S.C.   5724a(d)(3) (Supp.V 1999); see also 41 CFR 302-6.1(g) (2000).

     The Board has, on numerous occasions, recognized that despite the unpalatable result,
particularly when an employee has received inaccurate information from the agency, there
is simply no authority to permit payment of these expenses.  E.g., Mark H. Swenson, GSBCA
15504-RELO, 01-1 BCA   31,410; John K. Middaugh, GSBCA 15516-RELO, 01-1 BCA  
31,369; Stephen W. Van Dyke, GSBCA 15422-RELO, 01-1 BCA   31,270 (2000); Marilyn
A. Whitworth, GSBCA 15174-RELO, 00-1 BCA   30,811; James E. Black, GSBCA 14548-
RELO, 98-2 BCA   29,876.  

     Reimbursement of these expenses would be contrary to statute and regulation. 
Accordingly, the claim must be denied.



                                   _________________________________
                                   CATHERINE B. HYATT
                                   Board Judge