Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _______________ March 31, 1998 _______________ GSBCA 14392-RELO In the Matter of NANCY J. SCHEID Nancy J. Scheid, Montrose, CO, Claimant. Roland V. Erickson, Fiscal Accounting Manager, Western Area Power Administration, Golden, CO, appearing for Department of Energy. NEILL, Board Judge. Claimant, Ms. Nancy J. Scheid, an employee of the Department of Energy (DOE), has appealed a ruling by her agency denying her temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE). The agency contends that she does not qualify for that benefit since it was clearly her intention to purchase, as permanent quarters, the quarters she rented upon arrival at her new work station. Upon examination of the record presented to us, we conclude that the determination of the agency was correct with regard to the period starting from the date Ms. Scheid began living in her rented home. She is, however, entitled to TQSE for the very brief period she and her spouse were in temporary quarters at a local motel following their arrival at the new duty station. Background Ms. Scheid was transferred from DOE's office for the Western Area Power Administration in Loveland, Colorado, to Montrose, Colorado, effective February 16, 1997. She was authorized to travel to her new duty station commencing or about February 18 and was to report for duty in Montrose on February 19. Her travel orders authorized TQSE for a maximum of sixty days. On February 7, however, well in advance of the effective date of travel orders, Ms. Scheid entered into a contract for the purchase of a home in Montrose. The contract specified that her purchase of the home was contingent upon the sale of her home in Loveland. The contract also specified that Ms. Scheid would rent the Montrose home from February 16, 1997, until she sold her home in Loveland and completed the purchase of the new residence in Montrose. On February 20, 1997, Ms. Scheid made the trip from Loveland to Montrose by privately owned vehicle. Her spouse made the same trip in the same manner one day later. They planned to take occupancy of the residence which was already under contract. On arrival, however, Ms. Scheid discovered a propane leak in the house. She and, later, her husband were obliged to seek temporary lodging in a nearby motel until the leak was fixed. The record contains a receipt for $35.64 for a motel room for the night of February 20, and a receipt for $54.15 for a motel room for the night of February 21. According to Ms. Scheid's voucher, she and her husband occupied their rented home continually thereafter from February 22 until the home was actually purchased. On June 4, 1997, the agency returned Ms. Scheid's claims for the first and second thirty-day periods of TQSE with the explanation that they could not be paid because once occupancy has begun in the quarters that will become the employee's permanent residence, reimbursement may not be made. Ms. Scheid has appealed this determination. Discussion The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) provides that an employee for whom a permanent change of station is authorized or approved in the interest of the Government shall be allowed subsistence expenses for self and family for a period of not more than sixty consecutive days when occupancy of temporary quarters is determined necessary. Section 302-5.2(c) of the FTR in effect at the time of Ms. Scheid's transfer defined "temporary quarters" as follows: Generally, the term temporary quarters refers to lodging obtained from private or commercial sources for the purpose of temporary occupancy after vacating the residence occupied when the transfer was authorized. However, the occupancy of temporary quarters that eventually become the employee's permanent residence shall not prevent payment of the temporary quarters allowance if, in the agency's judgment, the employee shows satisfactorily that the quarters occupied were intended initially to be only temporary. In making this determination, the agency should consider factors such as the duration of the lease, movement of household effects into the quarters, type of quarters, expressions of intent, attempts to secure a permanent dwelling, and the length of time the employee occupies the quarters. 41 CFR 302-5.2(c) (1996). The agency's determination that Ms. Scheid moved into permanent quarters when she occupied the home she already had under contract is correct and in accordance with the above quoted provision of the FTR. Her obvious intent was to make these quarters her permanent quarters provided she was able to sell her residence at her former duty station. The house in Montrose was clearly not intended for temporary occupancy. In a case with very similar facts, this Board recently upheld an agency denial of TQSE and in so doing expressly noted that the fact that the claimant was forced to rent the home on a temporary basis pending sale of her home at the previous workstation did nothing to alter the permanent character of the new quarters. Patricia E. Gadbaw, GSBCA 14116-RELO, 98-1 BCA 29,517 (1997). The facts in this case indicate that, on arrival at Montrose, Ms. Scheid and her spouse were briefly precluded from moving into their newly rented permanent quarters and were required instead to stay temporarily at a local motel. For this period, therefore, they were in temporary quarters status. The TQSE covering this short period should, therefore, be paid. The TQSE claimed for the period after Ms. Scheid began residing in her rented home were, however, for the reasons stated above, correctly denied by the agency. _____________________ EDWIN B. NEILL Board Judge