Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 ____________________________ January 12, 1999 ____________________________ GSBCA 14457-RELO In the Matter of JANICE M. GENTILE Janice M. Gentile, Lowell, MA, Claimant. Mazie T. Murphy, Chief, Division of Finance, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, Fairfax, VA, appearing for Department of the Interior. HYATT, Board Judge. Claimant was employed by the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) of the Department of the Interior, in Newton Corner, Massachusetts in 1992. FWS was scheduled to relocate to Hadley, Massachusetts in December 1992. On August 6, 1992, travel orders were issued to Ms. Gentile authorizing, among other relocation expenses, a house hunting trip to the new office location. The travel authorization provided for per diem allowance reimbursement where applicable and authorized the use of a private automobile for transportation. That same day, claimant obtained a travel advance of $770. In November 1992, prior to the scheduled move, Ms. Gentile left the employ of FWS. FWS states that claimant was informed several times that she would be required to file a travel expense voucher to obtain reimbursement of her expenses and to account for the travel advance she had received in connection with the planned relocation. She filed an expense voucher dated October 30, 1992, for the period from October 13 through October 22, 1992. Under the schedule of expenses, claimant lists a miscellaneous expense of $20 for gas, $30 for food, and the amount of $700 for "rent." No further details, such as the nature of the rental or lodging expenses incurred, or the number of miles traveled, are provided with respect to any of these items. In response to Ms. Gentile's claim, the agency stated that it deemed the expense report to be incomplete and pointed out that no receipts had been attached to the expense report. No receipts were provided by claimant in either her initial submission to the Board or in her reply to the agency report.[foot #] 1 In the absence of receipts and the further information required by the agency to justify the expenses claimed, the voucher was not processed for payment. On March 16, 1993, a bill for collection was issued to claimant, seeking reimbursement of the travel advance. Claimant did not respond to any requests for payment or provide any requested documentation, taking the position that the expense report as filed was adequate. The bill was eventually referred to a debt collection company and subsequently to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for processing under the refund offset program. After the IRS effected a partial collection of the travel advance by making an offset against one of claimant's refunds, Ms. Gentile requested the Board's review of her claim.[foot #] 2 Discussion The payment of an employee's travel expenses for one round- trip between the localities of the old and new duty stations, for the purpose of seeking residence quarters in connection with a permanent change of station, is authorized under section 302-4 of the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR). 41 CFR 302-4.1 (1992). Section 302-4.3(b) of the FTR provides that per diem allowances available to the employee will be as prescribed in sections 302- 2.1, 302-2.2(b) and 302-2.3(d) of the FTR. FTR 302-2.1, in turn, incorporates by reference the per diem allowance procedures set forth in part 301-7 of the FTR. FTR provision 301-7.6 establishes a lodgings-plus per diem system under which the traveler is reimbursed the actual amount paid for lodgings, up to a prescribed maximum, and a set amount for meals and incidental expenses. See Robert H. Chappell, GSBCA 14186-TRAV, 98-1 BCA ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 At the time this claim was filed, claimant provided a home address in Lowell, Massachusetts, and work and home telephone numbers. Subsequently, claimant moved, leaving no forwarding address or telephone number. In addition, she is no longer employed at the office she was with when she filed her claim. Although the Board has attempted on several recent occasions to contact claimant by mail and telephone, to request that either copies of receipts or further information concerning the nature of the lodging expenses be provided, these efforts have been unsuccessful. [foot #] 2 Ms. Gentile also notes that the agency has pursued a claim to recover advance sick leave that she owed when she left FWS. She states that she does not contest this issue and is willing to reimburse the agency, but says that she never received a proper bill from FWS. We understand this to mean that Ms. Gentile is not seeking our review of this matter and we do not address it. ----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS ----------- 29,508 (1997); Anthony J. Kryfka, GSBCA 13709-TRAV, 97-2 BCA 29,147. Section 301-7.9(2)(b) of the FTR further provides that receipts are required to support claimed lodging costs. In the event receipts are lost or impractical to obtain, the employee is required to furnish a statement acceptable to the agency explaining why receipts are not available and identifying the name and address of the lodging facility, the dates the lodging was obtained, and the cost incurred. In this case, claimant has not provided enough information to enable the agency to determine that the trip was made, and that the expenses claimed were actually incurred, let alone provided the full extent of information required by the applicable regulations. See Herman Zivetz, B-213868 (July 12, 1984) (before paying claim, agency should require additional information if claimant has not satisfactorily explained lodging expenses). At a minimum, the claimant must identify the name and address of the lodgings used, as well as the actual cost incurred for lodging. Although the agency pointed out that it needed receipts to process the voucher, claimant did not address this issue in her reply to the agency's submission to the Board. Based on the record before us, the agency was not required to accept the voucher as presented by claimant. The expenses claimed have not been properly documented. In the absence of a properly documented expense voucher accounting for the use of the travel advance, claimant is not entitled to the amounts advanced for her house hunting travel. Thus, the agency is entitled to recoup the travel advance received by Ms. Gentile. _________________________________ CATHERINE B. HYATT Board Judge