______________________________ October 30, 1997 ______________________________ GSBCA 14239-RELO In the Matter of PAUL A. SNIEGON Paul A. Sniegon, Murfreesboro, TN, Claimant. Al LaBombard, Chief, Employee Service, Austin Finance Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, Austin, TX, appearing for Department of Veterans Affairs. DeGRAFF, Board Judge. An agency can reasonably conclude that an employee did not occupy temporary quarters if the employee leased a house for a one- year term, moved his household furnishings into the house, occupied the house for at least eight months, and did not establish any facts which would lead to a contrary conclusion. The authority to waive a debt lies with the agency from which the debt arises, and not with us. Background In mid-1996, Paul Sniegon, an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), transferred from Virginia to Tennessee. The DVA agreed to reimburse Mr. Sniegon for sixty days of temporary quarters subsistence expenses (TQSE), and he moved into an apartment in Brentwood, Tennessee on July 8, 1996. On August 5, 1996, Mr. Sniegon notified his landlord that he would vacate his apartment by September 7, 1996. On August 31, 1996, Mr. Sniegon rented a house in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for a twelve-month term beginning September 1, 1996. Mr. Sniegon's furnishings were delivered to the house on September 4, 1996. On September 5, 1996, Mr. Sniegon asked the DVA for an additional sixty days of TQSE reimbursement, and the DVA granted Mr. Sniegon s request. Mr. Sniegon says that no one explained the rules regarding reimbursement for TQSE, and he thought that the DVA could continue to reimburse him for TQSE for an additional sixty days even though he had left his temporary quarters in Brentwood and moved into the house in Murfreesboro. Mr. Sniegon claimed reimbursement for TQSE for ninety days, beginning on July 8, 1996. The DVA reimbursed Mr. Sniegon for his TQSE from July 8 through September 6, 1996. After reviewing all of the facts concerning Mr. Sniegon's quarters, the DVA determined that Mr. Sniegon's stay in temporary quarters ended on September 4, 1996, when his furniture was delivered to the house in Murfreesboro. The DVA explained to Mr. Sniegon that, in determining whether quarters were temporary or permanent, it considered the duration of the lease, the movement of household goods into the quarters, the type of quarters, any expressions of intent, attempts to secure a permanent dwelling, and the length of time the employee occupied the quarters. The DVA noted that the lease for the house in Murfreesboro was for a twelve-month term, and that Mr. Sniegon's household furnishings were moved into the house on September 4. The DVA also noted that Mr. Sniegon was still in the house in late April 1997. The DVA told Mr. Sniegon that it should have reimbursed him for TQSE only for July 8 through September 4, 1996, and asked Mr. Sniegon to repay $165, which is the amount that the DVA reimbursed him for TQSE on September 5 and 6, 1996. Mr. Sniegon asks us to review the DVA's decision concerning his claim. In his request, he explains that it would create a financial hardship if the DVA does not pay his claim for reimbursement for ninety days of TQSE, and he asks for a waiver of the $165 debt that the DVA says he owes. Discussion According to statute and the Federal Travel Regulation, when an agency transfers an employee from one permanent duty station to another, the agency shall pay the subsistence expenses the employee incurs while occupying temporary quarters, provided certain requirements are met. 5 U.S.C.  5724a(a)(3) (1994); 41 CFR ch. 302 (1996). 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, 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). The DVA does not have to reimburse Mr. Sniegon for ninety days of TQSE because the DVA s determination that Mr. Sniegon did not occupy temporary quarters after September 4, 1996, is reasonable and consistent with the regulation. When Mr. Sniegon left Virginia, he moved into an apartment in Tennessee that served as his temporary quarters. After living in the apartment for approximately two months, Mr. Sniegon moved into a house that he leased for a one-year term. He moved his household furnishings into the leased house in early September 1996, and continued to occupy the house in late April 1997. The DVA used the factors set out in the regulation to evaluate the nature of Mr. Sniegon s quarters, and told Mr. Sniegon what those factors were. Mr. Sniegon did not put forward any facts to establish that the DVA should have considered his house in Murfreesboro as temporary quarters. We do not have the authority to waive repayment of the $165 debt. The DVA may, however, exercise its authority to waive repayment of this debt if it concludes that collection would be against equity and good conscience and not in the best interests of the United States, and if there is no indication of fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith on the part of Mr. Sniegon. 5 U.S.C.  5584(a)(2)(A); Gerald A. Sherman, GSBCA 13791-TRAV, slip op. at 4 n.3 (Sept. 30, 1997). The claim is denied. ________________________________ MARTHA H. DeGRAFF Board Judge