BNUMBER:  B-257744
DATE:  February 9, 1996
TITLE:  Valerie E. Taylor

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Matter of:Valerie E. Taylor

File:     B-257744

Date:February 9, 1996

DIGEST

An employee performed temporary duty away from her official station, 
rented an apartment at the temporary duty site, and was required to 
pay a tenancy initiation fee as a nonrefundable move-in expense.  The 
fee may be reimbursed as a lodging cost under 41 C.F.R.  sec.  
301-7.1(c)(1)(i) and 301-7.14(a)(1), if the agency determines that the 
expense incurred is commonly charged in the geographical area and is 
reasonable in amount.

DECISION

This decision responds to a request from an authorized certifying 
officer, National Finance Center, Department of Agriculture (USDA).[1]  
The question asked is whether an employee may be reimbursed a tenancy 
initiation fee charged in connection with renting an apartment 
incident to the performance of temporary duty.  We conclude that the 
fee may be reimbursed as a lodging cost, for the following reasons.

Ms. Valerie E. Taylor, an employee of the Forest Service, USDA, 
stationed in San Diego, California, was authorized to perform 
temporary duty in San Francisco during the period of August 30 to 
September 30, 1993.  Because she was to be in San Francisco for at 
least 1 month, she rented an apartment rather than stay in a hotel.  
The agency reports that her action resulted in substantial savings to 
the government.  In addition to her rent, she was required to pay a 
nonrefundable $100 tenancy initiation fee to cover the landlord's 
advertising, administrative, and accounting expenses associated with 
generating a new tenancy.  The fee is refundable only if the unit 
rented is unavailable for occupancy on the date specified in the 
rental agreement.

The agency disallowed payment of the tenancy initiation fee since the 
Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) does not specifically provide for 
reimbursement of such administrative fees.  Ms. Taylor and her 
supervisor on reclaim argue that the expense should be treated as a 
reimbursable lodging expense since it was necessarily incurred by the 
employee in the performance of official travel.

The regulations governing per diem on official travel are contained in 
Part 301-7 of the FTR.[2]  Section 301-7.1(c)(1)(i) thereof,[3] 
defines the reimbursable expenses of "lodging" to include expenses for 
overnight sleeping facilities and related expenses.  Additionally, FTR 
section 301-7.14(a)(1)[4] expands that definition when the employee 
rents an apartment, house, or other lodging on a weekly or monthly 
basis incident to performing temporary duty.  Although neither section 
301-7.1(c)(1)(i) nor section 301-7.14(a)(1) of the FTR specifically 
itemizes as a reimbursable expense rental application fees or fees 
charged by a landlord to cover its cost to generate a new tenancy, 
such charges are commonly assessed in many parts of the country.

We recently considered and ruled on the question of whether a similar 
fee charged a transferred employee in connection with the rental of an 
apartment as temporary quarters may be reimbursed as a lodging expense 
under the provisions of section 302-5.4(a) of the FTR.[5]  In our 
decision Corpuz and Fears, B-256576, Jan. 17, 1996, we held that an 
apartment application or administrative fee required by a landlord is 
properly includable as a lodging cost because it was commonly charged 
in the geographical area.

There is a parallel between the types of costs associated with 
occupying temporary quarters under Part 302-5 of the FTR and the types 
of costs associated with lodging for temporary duty under Part 301-7 
of the FTR.  Therefore, it is our view that the language used to 
describe reimbursable expenses in sections 301-7.1(c)(1)(i) and 
301-7.14(a)(1) of the FTR is sufficiently inclusive to authorize 
reimbursement for apartment application or tenancy initiation fees as 
a lodging cost for temporary duty lodging if the expense incurred is 
commonly charged in the geographical area and is reasonable in amount.

In this case, Ms. Taylor was required to pay the tenancy initiation 
fee to rent the apartment.  The fee may be reimbursed as a lodging 
cost under FTR  sec.  301-7.1(c)(1)(i) and 301-7.14(a)(1) if the agency 
determines that the fee is commonly charged in the geographical area 
and is reasonable in amount.

/s/ Seymour Efros
for Robert P. Murphy
General Counsel

1. Ms. Sandra S. Williams-Reference FSD-1 RJP.

2. 41 C.F.R. Part 301-7 (1995).

3. 41 C.F.R.  sec.  301-7.1(c)(1)(i) (1995).

4. 41 C.F.R.  sec.  301-7.14(a)(1) (1995).

5. 41 C.F.R.  sec.  302-5.4 (1995).