# 2020-173 Pay and Benefits, Mortgage breaking penalties

Case summary

F&R Date: 2020-12-08

The grievor submitted two grievances contesting the denial of relocation benefits. First, he was denied reimbursement of the mortgage early repayment penalty as he did not meet the criteria set out in the Canadian Forces Integrated Relocation Program (CFIRP) Directive. In fact, the griever had not transferred his mortgage to the purchase of his new residence when it was possible for him to do so. Second, he was denied reimbursement for his mortgage default insurance. In that case, he had not transferred the entire net amount realized from the sale of his former residence to the purchase of his new one, as required by the CFIRP Directive. The griever stated that he had been treated unfairly due to a lack of available information following the changes made to the CFIRP Directive, and that if he had had adequate information, he would have made different choices.

The Initial Authority (IA) rejected both grievances, stating that she could not authorize benefits beyond the criteria established in the CFIRP Directive. The IA also determined that the information regarding the requested reimbursements was available on the CFIRP Directive website. In addition, a Canadian Forces General Message announcing the changes made to the relocation benefits had been published and it specified that the modifications to the policy would be available online.

The Committee pointed out that it is up to the Treasury Board to establish the relocation benefits which are set out in the CFIRP Directive. The Committee determined that the information about the relocation benefits was up to date and accessible on the CFIRP website a few months before the griever signed his mortgage agreement.

The Committee determined that the criteria for establishing the right to reimbursement for mortgage default insurance and the penalty for breaking a mortgage had not been met and that the griever had not been treated unfairly. The griever had made the choice not to transfer his mortgage to the purchase of his new residence, thereby incurring a penalty, and had chosen not to use all of the equity generated by the sale of his former house toward the purchase of his new residence. The Committee concluded that it would not be fair or equitable to ask Canadians to assume the additional financial burden resulting from those choices.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) not grant the griever the requested redress.

FA decision summary

The FA agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendations.