Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _______________________________________________ March 17, 2000 _____________________________________________ GSBCA 15234-RELO In the Matter of PATRICIA CLARK Patricia Clark, Hedgesville, WV, Claimant. C. Bruce Sheaffer, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of the Interior. GOODMAN, Board Judge. Claimant, Patricia Clark, is an employee of the Department of the Interior. She requests that this Board review a decision denying reimbursement of certain expenses incurred during her permanent change of station (PCS) in October 1998. Factual Background Claimant was approved a PCS move from Austin, Texas to Sharpsburg, Maryland. According to the agency, she was authorized reimbursement for the usual expenses related to traveling, including temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE) for 60 days. Ms. Clark and her spouse had been approved to travel in separate cars. Claimant has sent to the Board photographs of the two vehicles at the time of the move - a pickup truck with rear enclosure, towing a sedan. The rear of the pickup and the interior and trunk of the sedan were filled to capacity with personal belongings. Claimant and her spouse arrived at the new duty station on October 18, 1998 and immediately began occupancy of temporary quarters in a motel in Williamsport, Maryland. On November 25, 1998, they moved into their permanent residence. While staying in temporary quarters at the motel, claimant and her husband occupied two rooms. Claimant indicated that the two rooms were necessary because there was not sufficient storage space to accommodate their belongings for sixty days. Claimant states further: The travel authorization for this move was signed on September 14, 1998. My reporting date in Maryland was 4 weeks later. No house hunting trip was encouraged in this limited time. My spouse and I were not familiar with the area and what might be available in terms of housing, temporary or permanent, nor how long we might have to stay in temporary quarters. We felt it only prudent to take sufficient clothing, business and casual for up to two months minimum. . . . The motel room dimensions were 11/ft []by 14 ft[]. A single bathroom sink was in the far end of the room, limiting the space for clothing . . . and one single 4 drawer bureau on which the television set was placed, limiting the availability of space there. A mini- refrigerator in one room occupied the remaining space. All [of our] furniture was in storage. The rural area in which the [new duty station] is located has limited hotel space available. There are no long-term or extended stay facilities. We were unable to locate an apartment or house to rent on a month-to-month basis. My spouse and I were very diligent in looking for property to purchase. We reached the area and entered temporary quarters in Williamsport, Maryland on October 18, 1998. Two weeks later we signed a contract to purchase our home. Due to our specific request for an accelerated closing date of less than 30 days from contract signing, we closed on the home on November 18, 1998 and occupied it on November 25, 1998. We feel we exercised the same care in incurring expenses as a prudent person would on personal business. In the absence of larger, suite-type hotels, we felt it was unreasonable to subsist in space that would not adequately contain us and our limited belongings . . . . We struggled to keep the rate for the two rooms below what was allowable for a married couple traveling together and ask that you take into consideration the fact that we twice re-negotiated a lower room rate after failing to locate temporary quarters. The agency s travel office denied reimbursement of $1547.28, the cost of the second room. While the agency indicates that the total cost of the lodging did not exceed the allowable daily rate, it states that it denied reimbursement for the cost of the second room because it could find no authority to allow the expense of a second room under such circumstances. Claimant requests that this Board review the agency s denial of reimbursement. Discussion Statute provides that when an employee is transferred in the interest of the Government from one official station to another for permanent duty, the Government may reimburse the employee for certain expenses, including: "actual subsistence expenses of the employee and the employee's immediate family for a period of up to 60 days while the employee or family is occupying temporary quarters when the new official station is located within the United States." 5 U.S.C. 5724a(c)(1)(A) (Supp. III 1997). The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) defines "temporary quarters" as "lodging obtained for the purpose of temporary occupancy from a private or commercial source." 41 CFR 302-5.1 (1998). The agency s denial of reimbursement for one of the two motel rooms is based upon the agency s apparent belief that temporary quarters should be limited to one motel room for a married couple. There is no such restriction in the FTR, nor is there a requirement that a hotel or motel be used for temporary quarters. There are many instances where individuals have been reimbursed within the authorized dollar limit for an apartment or a house. See, e.g., Holly Rowe, GSBCA 14037-RELO, 97-1 BCA 28,934; Brenda Byles, GSBCA 14592-RELO, 99-1 BCA 30,156 (1998). Under the circumstances, it appears that claimant was certainly diligent in finding affordable, if not cramped, temporary quarters sufficient for her and her spouse for the initial period of TQSE authorized in an area where living quarters were limited. Based upon the information she has submitted, the two small rooms were necessary for her, her spouse and their belongings. She could not be expected to leave their belongings packed in their vehicles. Claimant prudently negotiated a total daily rate for both rooms which did not exceed the daily rate allowed. The agency acknowledges that the total amount for which claimant sought reimbursement for TQSE does not exceed the allowable daily rate. Claimant made diligent efforts to purchase a home for permanent quarters and vacated the temporary quarters before the initial sixty-day period for TQSE expired. Claimant is entitled to reimbursement for the $1547.28 for the second motel room. __________________________ ALLAN H. GOODMAN Board Judge