Claim for Reimbursement of Real Estate Expenses

A Federal employee filed a claim for reimbursement of a realtor's fee incurred in connection with the sale of his former residence. To enable the buyer to qualify for a low income, low interest loan, the employee sold his residence to a single purchaser by means of two separate but related transactions. The employee sold a smaller portion of the land to the buyer for cash, enabling the buyer to purchase the residence with the remaining land at a price which was sufficiently reduced to qualify him for the financing sought. The agency questioned whether the realtor's fee associated with the sale of the smaller portion of land may be reimbursed, since regulations state that an employee is limited to pro rata reimbursement when he sells land in excess of that which reasonably relates to the residence site. GAO found that, since the portion of land not containing the residence was too small to use as a separate building site, no inference could be made that the smaller portion of land did not reasonably relate to the residence site. Accordingly, the employee may be reimbursed for the amount claimed.