______________________
 
                           December 12, 1997
                         ______________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14116-RELO
 
 
                  In the Matter of PATRICIA E. GADBAW
 
 
        Patricia E. Gadbaw, Missouri City, TX, Claimant.
 
        Robert  F. Stott,  Director, Medical  Center, Department  of
   Veterans  Affairs,  Houston,  TX,  appearing  for  Department  of
   Veterans Affairs. 
 
   PARKER, Board Judge.
 
        Patricia Gadbaw, an  employee of the Department  of Veterans
   Affairs,  was  transferred  from  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania  to
   Houston, Texas in August 1995.  Upon her arrival in  Houston, Ms.
   Gadbaw rented  temporary quarters at  a Residence Inn.   She soon
   found  a house  which she  wished to  purchase but, because  of a
   delay by  the relocation company in  making her an offer  for her
   house in  Philadelphia, Ms. Gadbaw  was forced to rent  the house
   for a time before  purchasing it.  Ms. Gadbaw moved  into her new
   home on September 2, 1995, and completed the purchase of the home
   on October 31.
 
        After  approving it  at  a local  level,  the VA  ultimately
   denied Ms.  Gadbaw's  claim for  temporary  quarters  subsistence
   expenses (TQSE) for the period in which  she paid rent on her new
   home.   The VA determined that, although Ms. Gadbaw was forced to
   rent her  new house on a temporary basis  pending the sale of her
   home in  Philadelphia, Ms.  Gadbaw had  always intended that  the
   house in  Houston would  serve as her  permanent residence.   Ms.
   Gadbaw has asked the Board to review the VA's decision.
 
                               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 Govenment  shall be  allowed
   subsistence expenses for himself and for his immediate family for
   a period of  not more than sixty consecutive  days when occupancy
   of  temporary quarters is  determined to  be necessary.   Section
   302-5.2(c)  of the  regulation  defines "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).
 
        Here,  the VA's  determination that  Ms.  Gadbaw moved  into
   permanent quarters  when she moved  into the home that  she would
   ultimately purchase  was correct.   It is  clear from  the record
   that Ms. Gadbaw never intended  that the house serve as temporary
   quarters  while she searched for  a permanent place  to live.  To
   the contrary, the record shows  that she always intended that the
   house would be her permanent residence.  But for the problems she
   had in  selling her home  in Philadelphia, Ms. Gadbaw  would have
   purchased it  immediately.   When Ms.  Gadbaw moved herself,  her
   family, and  her household goods  into the house, she  moved into
   her permanent residence.  Neither the fact that she was forced to
   rent the house on a temporary basis  pending the sale of her home
   in  Philadelphia, nor  the  fact that  her  claim was  originally
   approved at the local level, changed that fact.
 
                                Decision
 
        The claim is denied.
 
                                      ____________________
                                      ROBERT W. PARKER
                                      Board Judge