Claim for Relocation Expenses

A civilian employee of the Navy appealed the denial of his claim for reimbursement of certain per diem, mileage, and relocation expenses. When the employee was transferred, he did not have his family join him at the new duty station because of notificatiion received from the agency that his position might be abolished. Ultimately, the position was not abolished, and the agency retroactively modified his travel orders to designate the new duty station as temporary duty for the period when the status of the position appeared uncertain. However, an employee's travel orders may not be retroactively modified, according to regulations; therefore, the employee's temporary duty claim was disallowed. Notwithstanding the general rule regarding the necessity of prior authority for relocation expenses, an authorization for the use of a second privately owned vehicle in relocating an employee's dependents is valid under regulations, even though it was issued retroactively. The employee claimed that he should have been allowed more than 60 days of temporary storage, shipment of more than the statutory weight limit for household goods because of the weight of the crating, and more than the commuted rate for transportation and storage because of the cost of local drayage and fuel surcharges. Temporary storage is limited to 60 days and may not be extended. In the absence of a clear showing of error, an agency's determination of weight will not be questioned. Once the commuted rate system is selected for reimbursement, there is no authority to make payments in excess of established commuted rates unless it can be shown that the application of the commuted rate was improperly calculated. The employee also sought reimbursement for loan application fees, but GAO determined that the fees were nonreimbursable finance charges. Regarding reimbursement for various expenses relating to the sale of the employee's old residence, the agency must determine the local custom as required by relevant regulations, and the employee must provide documentation of the expenses. The telephone and mailing expenses which the employee incurred incident to the purchase and sale of real estate are reimbursable as miscellaneous expenses.