Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 _____________________ January 7, 2000 _____________________ GSBCA 15168-TRAV In the Matter of THOMAS F. FINIGAN Thomas F. Finigan, Baltimore, MD, Claimant. J. Patrick O'Toole, Director, Division of Travel Management, Social Security Administration, Baltimore, MD, appearing for Social Security Administration. DeGRAFF, Board Judge. Applicable regulations do not preclude or limit reimbursement of an employee s temporary duty lodging expenses when the employee signs a lease for an apartment to use as lodging for the anticipated duration of the temporary duty assignment, even if a relative of the employee also signs the lease and stays in the apartment. Background In 1998, Thomas F. Finigan and his wife, Linda Porzio, were employed by the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Boston, Massachusetts. Some time that year, SSA sent Ms. Porzio to Baltimore, Maryland, for a long-term temporary duty assignment. In early January 1999, SSA in Boston notified Ms. Porzio that she needed to conclude her temporary duty assignment in Baltimore by the end of February and then return to Boston. In early February 1999, Ms. Porzio asked SSA in Boston whether it would permit her to extend her stay in Baltimore, because Mr. Finigan expected to come to Baltimore for a temporary duty assignment beginning in March 1999. SSA replied that it could not extend her assignment in Baltimore because she was needed in Boston. In mid-February, SSA in Baltimore asked Ms. Porzio whether she would consider accepting a permanent duty assignment there. SSA signed a travel authorization for Mr. Finigan on February 25, 1999, showing that his period of travel in Baltimore would be February 27 through July 5, 1999. Mr. Finigan's temporary duty assignment in Baltimore would run from March 1 through June 30. The authorization stated that he would be reimbursed for his lodging expenses. Mr. Finigan traveled to Baltimore on February 28, checked into a hotel, and began looking for other lodging. On March 3, he paid a security deposit for an apartment, and he was scheduled to move there on March 13. In the meantime, SSA officials in Boston and Baltimore had been discussing Ms. Porzio's situation. In early or mid-March, SSA approved Ms. Porzio's permanent duty assignment to Baltimore, effective March 14. Although Ms. Porzio's travel authorization, dated March 12, stated that she would be reimbursed for temporary quarters expenses for thirty days, Ms. Porzio never submitted a claim for reimbursement of temporary quarters expenses pursuant to her travel orders. The apartment that Mr. Finigan expected to move into on March 13 did not become available until March 17. On that date, he and Ms. Porzio signed a lease for the apartment, with an ending date of June 30, 1999. The lease provided that after June 30, it would became a month-to-month lease. In SSA's view, the apartment probably did not constitute permanent quarters, because the lease was for a short term and Mr. Finigan and Ms. Porzio did not move any of their household goods from Boston to the apartment. In early June 1999, SSA asked Mr. Finigan if he would be interested in extending his temporary duty assignment in Baltimore. He agreed and on June 10, SSA authorized Mr. Finigan to stay in Baltimore through October 22, 1999. Mr. Finigan's June 10 travel authorization stated that he would be reimbursed for his lodging expenses. Mr. Finigan submitted a claim to SSA for reimbursement of his lodging expenses while he was in Baltimore. SSA initially agreed to pay the claim and then decided not to pay it. In response to our request for comments, SSA states quite frankly that it is not sure who it should reimburse for lodging expenses for what period of time, although it is willing to reimburse someone for lodging expenses. Discussion The only Federal Travel Regulation that might either preclude or limit SSA s reimbursement of Mr. Finigan s lodging expenses is 41 CFR 301-11.12(c) (1999), which provides that if an employee performing temporary duty is lodging with a relative, the employee can be reimbursed only for whatever additional costs the host incurs in accommodating the employee. SSA points out that its internal regulations contain a similar provision which explains that a traveler will not generally be reimbursed for lodging provided by a relative because proper documentation of the additional costs attributable to the employee is difficult to provide. SSA Administrative Instructions Manual System, Financial Management Manual, SSA.g:07.19.02. The regulations concerning lodging with relatives do not preclude or limit Mr. Finigan s claim for lodging expenses. The apartment was Mr. Finigan s, as well as Ms. Porzio s, because they both signed the lease, the lease described them as residents and leaseholders, and the lease said that the residents were responsible for paying the rent. Mr. Finigan secured the apartment in anticipation of occupying it during his temporary duty assignment in Baltimore, as is shown by the fact that when he paid the security deposit for the apartment, he expected that his temporary assignment in Baltimore would continue through June 30, and he was not sure that Ms. Porzio would be staying in Baltimore. We do not read the regulations as precluding or limiting reimbursement when an employee signs a lease for an apartment to use as lodging during a temporary duty assignment, even if a relative of the employee also signs the lease and stays there. Because the apartment where Mr. Finigan stayed was his as well as Ms. Porzio s, and because he secured the apartment in anticipation of occupying it during his temporary duty assignment in Baltimore, the regulations do not preclude or limit his claim. SSA asks whether, if Mr. Finigan is entitled to be reimbursed for his lodging expenses, he can be reimbursed for the expenses he incurred after Ms. Porzio s period of reimbursement for temporary quarters expired. SSA s concern is that after that period expired, Ms. Porzio did not move into permanent quarters. If she had, then she, and not Mr. Finigan, would presumably have been paying for those quarters. Ms. Porzio was not required, however, to secure permanent quarters. The only effect of the expiration of her temporary quarters reimbursement period was that she could not look to SSA to continue to reimburse her for temporary quarters expenses. Mr. Finigan s claim for reimbursement is not affected by the fact that Ms. Porzio did not secure permanent quarters because she was not required to do so. The claim is granted. ___________________________________ MARTHA H. DeGRAFF Board Judge