Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
                          ___________________
 
                           September 22, 1998
                          ___________________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14646-RELO
 
 
                  In the Matter of RICHARD E. BACKLUND
 
 
        Richard E. Backlund, Falls Church, VA, Claimant.
 
        A.  Thomas Park,  Chief,  Finance Division,  Federal Highway
   Administration,   Washington,  DC,  appearing  for Department  of
   Transportation.
 
   PARKER, Board Judge.
 
        In  June  1998, Richard  E.  Backlund,  an employee  of  the
   Department  of Transportation's  Federal Highway  Administration,
   was transferred  from Boston, Massachusetts, to  Washington, D.C.
   The purchasers  of Mr. Backlund's  house in Boston insisted  as a
   condition of sale that Mr.  Backlund leave behind a home security
   system which had been  installed in the house.  As  a result, Mr.
   Backlund  was required  to  pay  $785 to  the  company which  had
   installed  the equipment as part of a security services contract.
   According  to  Mr.  Backlund's real  estate  agent,  the security
   system was  a wireless unit  that could easily have  been removed
   and transported to the new duty station.
 
        Mr. Backlund  claimed as  a miscellaneous  expense the  $785
   that  he  paid the  security  services  company for  leaving  the
   equipment.   When the agency denied the  claim, he asked that the
   Board  review the decision.  As discussed below, we find that the
   agency correctly denied the claim.
 
                               Discussion
 
        The  miscellaneous  expenses  allowance   is  for  defraying
   various  costs associated  with  discontinuing  residence at  one
   location   and  establishing  residence  at  a  new  location  in
   connection with  an authorized  or approved  permanent change  of
   station.  41 CFR 302-3.1(a)  (1997).  The types of costs  covered
   include  such things  as fees  for  disconnecting and  connecting
   appliances, cutting and  fitting rugs moved from one residence to
   another,  unrefunded utility fees  or deposits, forfeiture losses
   on  medical, dental  and other  non-transferrable contracts,  and
   costs of automobile  registration and driver's  license.  41  CFR
   302-3.1(b).  The miscellaneous expenses allowance does not cover,
   among  other things,  "[l]osses  in selling  or  buying real  and
   personal property and cost items related to such transactions" or
   "[l]osses  as the  result of  the sale  or disposal  of items  of
   personal  property  not  considered  convenient  or  practical to
   move."  41 CFR 302-3.1(c).
 
 
        The agency was correct in  denying Mr. Backlund's claim  for
   the cost of a security system which he left behind as a condition
   of sale.   As is evident from  the regulations, costs covered  by
   the miscellaneous expenses allowance tend to be those unavoidable
   expenses  of moving  which have  nothing to  do with  the bargain
   struck  between the  buyer and  seller.   Here, in  contrast, Mr.
   Backlund's agreement to leave the security system behind was very
   much a part of the bargaining  process which resulted in the sale
   of his house.  In essence, it was an agreement to lower the price
   of the house by $785 or, alternatively, to sell personal property
   with that value  in conjunction with the  sale of the house.   In
   either case,  the agency was  correct in determining that  such a
   transaction does not create a reimbursable miscellaneous expense.
 
                                Decision
 
        The claim is denied.
 
                                      __________________________
                                      ROBERT W. PARKER
                                      Board Judge