About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-197908 1 (1980-04-21)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadies0001 and id is 1 raw text is: TECOMPTROLLER GENERAL DECISON .OF THE UNITED STATES V ASHINGTON, D. C. 20548 t'\ i1 , OA E A r l 1 1 8 FILE: B-197908 / z Ct.E April 21, 1980 MATTER OF: Doss H. White, Jr. - Real EstateBroker's Commission DIGEST: (1) Transferred employee seeks reimbursement of 10 percent real estate broker's com- mission paid in connection with guaranteed sale of residence at his former duty station. Statutory provisions of 5 U.S.C. § 5724a(a)(4)(1976) and implementing reg- ulations require that applicable commission rate is rate generally and customarily charged in locality, and information pro- vided by HUD creates rebuttable presumption regarding prevailing commission rate. Where local HUD office states that 7 percent was prevailing commission rate, and such finding is uncontested by claimant, there is no authority to reimburse employee for extra 3 percent commission paid to expedite sale of property. (2) Although employee claims excess charges were paid for guaranteed sale provision resulting from erroneous advice of agency officials, employees are on constructive notice that reimbursement of broker's fees may not exceed the prevailing rate which may be determined on the basis of information supplied by HUD; and in any event, Government is neither bound nor estopped by erroneous advice of its agents. See cases cited. Torin D. Anderson, an authorized certifying officer for the Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, has requested an advance decision of this Office concerning a reclaim for real estate expenses in the case of Mr. Doss H. White, Jr. Mr. White, an employee of the Bureau of Mines, was officially transferred from Denver, Colorado, to Atlanta, Georgia, in July 1977. Incident to the transfer, Mr. White sold his residence in Denver, Colorado. He paid his broker a 10 percent commission of $5,000, but was reimbursed only 7 percent or $3,605, by the Bureau of Mines. He has claimed reimbursement for $1,395, representing the additional 3 percent commission.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most