[Claim for Reimbursement of Real Estate Expenses]

In response to a request from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), GAO rendered an advance decision as to whether an employee could be reimbursed for real estate expenses incurred when he sold his residence in Colorado, after being retransferred from Arizona to a different location in Colorado. GAO stated that, to be reimbursed for residence sale expenses, the property must have been the employee's residence at his old duty station. EEOC noted that the property that the employee sold was not his residence while he was assigned to permanent duty in Arizona. However, GAO stated that the significant transfer was the first one from Colorado to Arizona. Although GAO has held than an employee who is retransferred to a former duty station is under an obligation to avoid unnecessary expenses and is entitled only to these expenses which were incurred prior to notice of retransfer and those which cannot be avoided, GAO stated that this decision is prospective in application and does not affect the employee's entitlement to reimbursement for real estate expenses incurred prior to the holding. GAO found that: (1) the property had been his residence at his old duty station prior to his initial transfer to Arizona; (2) the sale had taken place within 1 year of the effective date of that transfer; and (3) the decision which would seem relevant to this case is to be applied prospectively. Accordingly, the employee could be reimbursed for his real estate expenses.