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                         March 27, 1997
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                        GSBCA 13713-RELO


                In the Matter of J. DANIEL BEATY


     J. Daniel Beaty, Columbia, SC, Claimant.

     W. J. Cavanaugh, Chief, Fiscal Service, Wm. Jennings Bryan
Dorn Veterans' Hospital, Columbia, SC, appearing for Department of
Veterans Affairs.

PARKER, Board Judge.

     In July 1993, Mr. J. Daniel Beaty, an employee of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), was transferred from Syracuse,
New York to Columbia, South Carolina.  Mr. Beaty paid his landlord
in Syracuse $4,000 in settlement of a four-year apartment lease,
which had twenty-six months remaining.  The total rent for the
twenty-six month period was $22,784.  The lease did not permit Mr.
Beaty to sublet the apartment.

     Mr. Beaty paid $3,000 of this amount by check; the additional
$1,000 was deducted from his security deposit of $1,750.  After Mr.
Beaty moved out, the landlord wrote Mr. Beaty a letter stating that
Mr. Beaty had caused damage to the apartment in excess of $2,750. 
The landlord indicated that he would keep the $750 remaining in Mr.
Beaty's security deposit and forgo collection of the balance.

     The VA bounced around Mr. Beaty's request for reimbursement of
the $4,000 because it could not decide whether payment of that
amount was "reasonable."  There is nothing in the record to
indicate that VA officials questioned the truthfulness of Mr.
Beaty's statement that the $4,000 payment, including the $1,000
subtracted from his security deposit, was totally separate from the
landlord's assessment of damage done to the apartment.  In April of
1996, the VA asked the General Accounting Office (GAO) to review
the claim.  The claim was subsequently transferred to this Board.

                           Discussion

     Under the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), an employee who is
transferred in the interest of the Government is entitled to be
reimbursed certain expenses incurred in connection with the move. 
Among the reimbursable expenses is a payment made in settlement of
an unexpired lease.  These expenses may be reimbursed when:

          (1) applicable laws or the terms of the lease
          provide for payment of settlement expenses,
          (2) such expenses cannot be avoided by
          sublease or other arrangement, (3) the
          employee has not contributed to the expense by
          failing to give appropriate lease termination
          notice promptly after he/she has definite
          knowledge of the transfer . . . .

41 CFR 302-6.2(h) (1993).  In addition, the agency must review
applications for reimbursement to determine if the expenses
incurred were reasonable in amount.  41 CFR 302-6.3(b).

     Mr. Beaty is entitled to reimbursement of the $4,000 he paid
to settle the remainder of his lease.  First, the lease did provide
for payment of settlement expenses -- under the terms of the lease,
Mr. Beaty would have been required to pay "settlement expenses" of
all $22,784 of the remaining rent if he had not entered into a
different settlement with the landlord.   Second, Mr. Beaty could
not have avoided payment of those expenses by subletting or other
arrangement -- the lease specifically prohibited him from doing
that.  Third, Mr. Beaty did not contribute to the expense by
failing to give appropriate lease termination notice.  Fourth, the
amount of the settlement was reasonable.  Paying $4,000 to settle
a lease with 26 months and a total rent of $22,748 remaining does
not strike us as excessive.  Finally, there is nothing in the
record to indicate that the $4,000 settlement payment, which
included $1,000 taken from Mr. Beaty's security deposit, was in any
way related to the landlord's decision to forgo collection of
additional monies for damage to the apartment.

                            Decision

     The claim is granted.




                                   ____________________
                                   ROBERT W. PARKER
                                   Board Judge