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B-265989 1 (1996-03-15)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacwxm0001 and id is 1 raw text is: United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Office of the General Counsel B-265989 March 15, 1996 Mr. Frederick N. Whiteside Manager, Accounting Operations Division U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration 800 Independence Ave., S.W. Washington, DC 20591 Dear Mr. Whiteside: This is in response to your request for our opinion on whether or not agencies may certify claims for payment involving brokers' commissions in excess of the customary rate if it can be proven that payment of the higher rate clearly resulted in a savings to the government. In the present case, Mr. James D. Erickson, an employee of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) executed a permanent change-of-station (PCS) move from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C. under orders with a reporting date of March 28, 1995. Upon notification of his impending PCS, Mr. Erickson entered into an agreement with a real estate broker for sale of his residence. The terms of the listing agreement included a sales commission of 6 percent plus a 1 percent offering as a bonus to the selling broker. Mr. Erickson submitted a claim to FAA for $7,175 in sales commissions along with other expenses associated with the sale of his home. Of this amount, $1,025 was rejected because it exceeded 6 percent, the customary rate for Fort Worth. The customary rate was verified with the Comptroller for the Housing and Urban Development Office in Fort Worth. According to Mr. Erickson, his claim for the additional fee is justified on the basis of the savings that accrued to the government by avoiding the use of the relocation contract. Your letter states that a computation of savings would involve a comparison of the amount that would have incurred by using a relocation services contract to the amount of expense paid to Mr. Erickson, including the applicable Relocation Income Tax Allowance. 149311

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