[Claim for Lodging Expenses]

GAO was asked to determine whether the Department of Education should pay a claim for lodging expenses in noncommercial quarters. While on a temporary duty assignment, an Education employee stayed in a private apartment. The claimant provided the agency with a signed receipt from the apartment owner showing the amount that he received for the employee's lodgings, together with the owner's signed statement that the claimant had the exclusive use of the apartment and an indication of the utility costs during the claimant's stay. GAO held that the employee was not entitled to reimbursement of the amount paid for lodging in the absence of evidence that the rental agreement was the result of an arm's-length business transaction between the parties, or that the expenses were reasonable and within approved standards. Accordingly, the lodging expenses were not approved.