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Claim for Reimbursement of House Hunting Trip Expenses

B-193969 Jun 05, 1980
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Highlights

An advance decision was requested as to whether a claim for travel expenses for a house hunting trip could be paid. An employee executed a service agreement in connection with a change of permanent duty station and was authorized a house hunting trip. While on the trip, the employee informed her prospective supervisor that she was unable to accept the offered position for personal reasons. A statute provides that an employee may be reimbursed for transportation expenses to seek permanent quarters at a new official duty station when both the new and the old station are in the continental United States. As a condition precedent to the payment of relocation expenses, the law requires the employee to sign a service agreement. It also specifies that an employee's failure to effect the transfer may constitute a violation of the service agreement and that funds expended by the Government for travel, transportation and allowances shall be recovered from the employee. Since the record in this case indicated that the employee declined to effect the transfer after the execution of the service agreement, reimbursement for house hunting expenses was not allowed.

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