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

B-225840 1 (1987-09-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadmvi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: The Comptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 Decision Matterof- Michael Moran - Travel Allowances File: B-225840 Date: September 18, 1987 DIGEST 1. A Veterans Administration employee who, due to an agency administrative error, received improper authorization for a house-hunting trip for his wife and himself from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Houston, Texas, is granted a waiver of the claim against him for the cost of the round-trip airfare paid by the government. Payment for house-hunting trips to, from, or outside of the continental United States is not authorized under 5 U.S.C. § 5724a(a)(2). However, a waiver of the claim is granted under the Comptroller General's newly extended waiver authority at 5 U.S.C. S 5584 since there is no evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, fault or lack of good faith on the part of the employee and collec- tion in this case would be against equity and good con- science and not in the best interests of the United States. 2. The Comptroller General's authority to waive a claim against an employee applies to cases where an agency actually made an erroneous payment of pay or allowances or travel and transportation expenses. In a case where the agency erroneously authorized a house-hunting trip from a point outside the continental United States for the employee and the employee incurred the expense but the agency made no payment, the waiver statute does not apply since there is no claim of the United States to waive. In addition, there is no authority to authorize payment for expenses arising out of such house-hunting trips which are not otherwise author- ized by law. DECISION This decision is in response to a request for an advance decision from the Director, Office of Budget and Finance, Veterans Administration (VA), concerning the entitlement of a VA employee to a per diem allowance and transportation costs for a house-hunting trip taken by the employee and his wife from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Houston, Texas.

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