BNUMBER:  B-266312
DATE:  April 8, 1996
TITLE:  Bruce Wayne Stevenson

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Matter of:Bruce Wayne Stevenson

File:     B-266312

Date:April 8, 1996

DIGEST

An employee who transferred from New Mexico to Hawaii incurred an 
early termination fee pursuant to an automobile lease.  The lease 
agreement prohibited the employee from taking the car out of the 
country.  The employee's claim for reimbursement of the fee as a 
miscellaneous expense is denied since the Federal Travel Regulation, 
41 C.F.R.  sec.  302-3.1(c)(9) (1995), excludes from miscellaneous expense 
coverage losses and costs incurred in selling or buying personal 
property, and an automobile lease is associated with the sale or 
purchase of personal property.

DECISION

This is in response to a request for an advance decision from Mr. John 
F. Best, Chief, Finance and Accounting Division, Directorate of 
Resource Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, concerning whether 
an employee, Mr. Bruce Wayne Stevenson, may be reimbursed for 
automobile lease termination charges of $1,334.25 pursuant to a 
permanent duty station transfer.  For the reasons set forth below, we 
conclude that Mr. Stevenson's claim may not be paid.

BACKGROUND

Mr. Stevenson, an employee of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, was 
transferred from Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, to Fort Schafter, 
Hawaii, by travel authorization issued on March 11, 1992.  In October 
1988, Mr. Stevenson had entered into an automobile lease agreement in 
New York State for a term of 48 months.  The terms of the agreement 
prohibited use of the car outside of the state where the vehicle was 
first titled and/or registered for more than 30 days without prior 
written consent of the leasing agency and Ford Credit.  The agreement 
also provided an option to purchase at the end of the lease.

Mr. Stevenson states that he requested permission to ship the car to 
Hawaii, but his request was denied.  Mr. Stevenson paid the early 
termination fee of $1,334.25 and returned the car to the lessor; he 
did not exercise his option to purchase the vehicle pursuant to the 
lease agreement.

Mr. Stevenson's employing agency denied his request for reimbursement 
of the early termination fee as a miscellaneous expense on the basis 
that it was considered a loss in the sale of personal property, citing 
to Edward R. Esparza, B-232394, Oct. 6, 1989.  In Esparza, we held 
that a provision in the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) specifically 
excluded from miscellaneous expense coverage losses and costs incurred 
in selling or buying personal property.  Mr. Stevenson says that the 
Esparza decision is not applicable to his situation since the employee 
in that case purchased the automobile making it his personal property.  
He, on the other hand, never owned the leased car.  Therefore, he 
concludes that he is entitled to a miscellaneous expense reimbursement 
for the early termination fee.

OPINION

Section 5724a(b) of title 5 of the United States Code authorizes 
reimbursement of "necessary and appropriate" miscellaneous expenses 
incurred incident to a permanent change of station within a set 
monetary limit.[1]  The implementing provisions for this provision are 
contained in 41 C.F.R. Part 302-3 of the FTR.  Section 302-3.1 (1995), 
of these regulations provides, generally, that a relocating employee 
is entitled to receive an allowance for various miscellaneous 
expenses, the purpose of which is to help defray certain expenses 
associated with discontinuing a residence at one location and 
reestablishing a residence at a new location.  The costs intended to 
be reimbursed under the miscellaneous expenses allowance include 
forfeiture losses on certain service contracts such as medical, dental 
and food locker contracts that are not transferrable.  41 C.F.R.  sec.  
302-3.1(b)(4).

However, 41 C.F.R.  sec.  302-3.1(c)(9), specifically excludes certain 
costs, including---"Losses as the result of the sale or disposal of 
items of personal property not considered convenient or practicable to 
move". 

We disagree with Mr. Stevenson's contention that since he never 
exercised his option to purchase the automobile, but only leased it, 
it was not personal property.  Although the term "personal property" 
is not specifically defined in section 302 of the FTR, personal 
property, in its ordinary significance, refers to all objects and 
rights which are capable of ownership, except for freehold interests 
in real estate.  Yet another definition is that personal property is 
the right or interest which a person has in things personal.  See 63A 
Am. Jur. 2d Property  sec.  21 (1984).  Further, Mr. Stevenson entered into 
a motor vehicle leasing contract in New York State which is regulated 
under the personal property law section of the Consolidated Laws of 
New York.  See N.Y. Pers. Prop. Law  sec.  330-353 (McKinney 1992).  
Therefore, we conclude that Mr. Stevenson's loss was associated with 
the sale or purchase of personal property, and as such is specifically 
excluded from the miscellaneous expense allowance under the provisions 
of 41 C.F.R.  sec.  302-3.1(c)(9).

Accordingly, Mr. Stevenson's claim for reimbursement is denied.

/s/Seymour Efros
for Robert P. Murphy
General Counsel
B-266312
Aptil 8, 1996
DIGEST

An employee who transferred from New Mexico to Hawaii incurred an 
early termination fee pursuant to an automobile lease.  The lease 
agreement prohibited the employee from taking the car out of the 
country.  The employee's claim for reimbursement of the fee as a 
miscellaneous expense is denied since the Federal Travel Regulation, 
41 C.F.R.  sec.  302-3.1(c)(9) (1995), excludes from miscellaneous expense 
coverage losses and costs incurred in selling or buying personal 
property, and an automobile lease is associated with the sale or 
purchase of personal property.

1. Such reimbursement for miscellaneous expenses is limited to 2 
weeks' basic pay if the employee has an immediate family, or 1 week's 
basic pay, if he does not; and may not exceed the maximum rate for 
GS-13.