12444726Q0002 QA2.pdf

Assessment of Title Complexity Associated with Informally Owned Real Property

12444726Q0002 - Questions and Answers

Q1: We would like to know if this is a brand new contract OR if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?

A1: This is a new contract.

Q2: 3.1 Informal property Identification and Mapping - How are Atlanta, GA, Asheville, NC, Greenville, SC, and Tampa, FL defined? Is it by zip code, property address containing the city name, city limits, or some other criteria?

A2: Atlanta is defined as the City of Atlanta only—determined by city limits. Asheville is defined as Buncombe County, North Carolina. Greenville is defined as Greenville

County, South Carolina. Tampa is defined as Hillsborough County, Florida.

Q3: 3.1 Informal property Identification and Mapping - Depending on the definition of the cities, the total number of parcels to examine will likely exceed 500,000. What level of accuracy is

USDA expecting on identifying informally owned parcels?

A3: The level of accuracy would depend on the method used to determine the number of heirs’ parcels. If this were done using title searches, this should reveal the actual or real number of heirs’ parcels. In this case, the level of accuracy should be +/-1% or less.

Alternatively, the number of likely heirs’ parcels could also be calculated using indicators in parcel records although this would be less precise than determining the number using title searches. In the case of calculating likely heirs’ parcels, no level of accuracy can be specified because the actual number of heirs’ parcels would not be known, and thus no benchmark for comparison would exist.

Q4: 3.1 Informal property Identification and Mapping - Some research shows that heirs property can account for as much as 15% of all parcels. This would lead to 75,000 verifications through title examination to ensure accurate results. Does the scope of this project include funding for

75,000 title examinations?

A4: This project assumes that the likely or potential number of heirs’ parcels would be calculated using indicators in parcels records. A title search will be done on three titles in each city/county to develop a legal opinion about the complexity of the title.

Q5: 3.2 Title Complexity Stratification - Without genealogical research, determination of the number of generations and number of heirs cannot be accurately determined. What level of accuracy is USDA expecting on identifying the title complexity of informally owned parcels?

A5: This is an exploratory project intended to obtain an estimate of the likely number of heirs’ parcels in some areas affected by storm and wind events resulting from Hurricanes

Helene and Milton. As such, there is no support for in-depth, genealogical research to determine heirs’ property extent in the affected areas. Standard real estate title searches will be done for a maximum of twelve properties.

Q6: 3.2 Title Complexity Stratification - Does the scope of the project include funding for 75,000 genealogical reviews?

A6: No.

Q7: 3.2 Title Complexity Stratification - Will the USDA be able to provide access to the Social

Security Administration's Death Master File or similar data?

A7: No.

Q8: 3.3 Visual Analysis and Mapping - What specific tools/formats are required for heat maps and clusters?

A8: Use of GIS or geospatial programming and mapping are required. Any standard program such as ARCGIS would be acceptable.

Q9: 3.3 Visual Analysis and Mapping - Will maps need to include street-level detail or higher-level like census tract?

A9: The precise geospatial location and street addresses of the parcels are required;

however, this detail would be obscured when sharing the data with others outside of the research team.

Q10: 3.3 Visual Analysis and Mapping - What layers or specific details will the maps need to show?

A10: The precise geospatial location and street addresses of the parcels are required;

however, this detail would be obscured when sharing the data with others outside of the research team.

Q11: 3.4 Title Work Demonstration - How many legal memos would need to be drafted?

A11: The number of memos would correspond to the number of title searches—twelve.

Q12: 3.5 Research Contribution - For the regular meetings, how frequent would the meetings be, and how long would each meeting last?

A12: The number of meetings is anticipated no more than one meeting per week, but no more than four hours per month. However, this will depend on the pace and progress of the work. This would be determined by the research team after the contract has been awarded.

Q13: 3.5 Research Contribution - What amount of written content is expected for the USFS paper?

A13: This would be in the form of an academic paper addressing disasters or environmental threats and how tenuous property ownership intersects with these events.

The paper would specify the research topic, include a literature on heirs’ property, disasters, methodology used to estimate heirs’ parcels, and a discussion of the extent of these parcels in the four study areas. The paper should be no more than 100 pages.

Q14: Is there a budget range, or can the total budget exceed $5,000,000.00?

A14: The government estimate/budget is not being disclosed at this time.

Q15: Will the USDA provide access to any preexisting data on the subject, whether proprietary or not?

A15: No.

Q16: What electronic format should the database and reports be provided in?

A16: The heirs’ parcel estimate should be geospatial data layers compatible with the

ArcGIS environment. The research paper should be in MS Word or another standard word processing format.

Q17: Is there a quantity range of claimants/properties that is to be expected?

A17: The project assumes that the likely or potential number of heirs’ parcels would be calculated using indicators in tax parcels records for the respective cities/counties rather than broadscale title searches which would be prohibitively expensive. Because the identification will be done using these imprecise methods, the true number of heirs’ parcels is unknown, which means a range of such properties cannot be estimated a priori.

That said, the vendor may reference a recent report by Fannie Mae, Thomson & Bailey, and Dobbs & Johnson Gaither for estimates—again, however, these landscape scale estimates may not have been not verified by ground truthing methods. The proposed project is willing to accept the uncertainty associated with estimations using aggregated data.

Q18: What information will the USFS provide as the starting point? Ex. Address, name, parcel number

A18: The Forest Service will not provide data to the contractor.

Q19: What format is preferred to receive the reports/deliverables in?

A19: Heirs’ property estimates should be delivered as GIS layers compatible with commonly used geospatial software such as ARCGIS Pro. The requested legal information should be in the form of legal opinions, documented as memos, about the complexity of the twelve legal titles that will be evaluated.

Q20: Have there been similar previous contracts that have been awarded, if so, what are those solicitation numbers?

A20: We are not aware of similar contracts.

Q21: Is there a maximum total contract value that is not to be exceeded?

A21: The government estimate/budget is not being disclosed at this time.

Q22: Do exhibits/examples count against the 2-page minimum referred to in the Technical

Approach section?

A22: Exhibits and examples will not count against the 2 page minimum, but no more than

3 pages of exhibit and examples will be accepted.

Q23: What is the negotiation timeline for price?

A23: Pricing negotiations are not anticipated. The government intends to award based on initial quotes received, but reserves the right to negotiate.

Q24: In reference to section 3.1, item 2, are there any data sources that would be deemed inappropriate for use while determining if a property is informally owned.

A24: The contractor should describe the data and methods used to identify informal/heirs’ parcels in their technical approach. Data should be the most recent available data, ideally parcel records from 2024-2025.

Q25:In reference to section 3.1, item 3, will a list of multi-unit developments and properties with centralized disaster management organizations to be excluded from the project be provided or must be determined by the contractor?

A25: This must be determined by the contractor.

Q26: Does the contracting team’s definition of informal ownership (heirs’ property) include fractional ownership? If a parcel is owned by multiple individuals who are heirs of the original arm's length purchaser and the those heirs/current owners have ownership confirmed through judgment of possession or valid conveyance or death transfer document, is that included within the definition of information ownership (heirs property) that is included in this scope of work.

A26: This type of nuance would likely be discovered during a title search, which we are requesting for twelve properties, three in each study area. If documentation like that described here is found, whether this type of ownership verification takes a parcel out of heirs’ property classification would have to be determined, by how marketable the title is given these validations. And that could vary depending on what the property owners may wish to do with the property or how they might attempt to use it as a leverage. We cannot say with certainty.

Q27: Will the parameters of which parcels within the counties and cities affected by the natural disaster be provided by the contracting team?

A27: This contract requires the contractor to provide expertise in geospatial techniques and estimation. This knowledge should enable the contractor to access and use remotely sensed imagery to assess properties affected by the hurricanes.

Q28: What, if any, data sets will be provided by the contracting team?

A28: The contractor is expected to source all data sets. None will be provided by the

Forest Service.

Q29: Are there COTS data tools that USDA has that are accessible for use in this project?

A29: Forest Service researchers can discuss coding they have used to identify informal property; but there are no specific Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) data tools, per se, that have been developed by Forest Service researchers for any part of this analysis.

Q30: Are the title complexity classifications meant to be estimates or determinative?

A30: They are meant to be determinative.

Q31: Does the Government have a ceiling value for the contract total for the scope of work outlined in this solicitation?

A31: The government estimate/budget is not being disclosed at this time.

Q32: We have some confusion surrounding the construction of the database in phase 1. Would it be possible for you to share more about how we are sourcing the data. Our understanding of the request is that we would pull both parcel data and tax information and analyze where the data shows a different individual for the same property on the two reports. This would indicate the property is informally owned, and we would display that in a database. If it is possible, can you please confirm whether we are thinking about this request correctly?

A32: Land parcel data is assembled by county taxing authorities, usually tax assessors.

Parcel records for a given county may be obtained directly from the tax assessor’s office or purchased from a commercial firm that collects this data. The parcel records often contain indicators in the owner name column indicating heirs’ property status. Please see the following reports by Fannie Mae, Thomson & Bailey, and Dobbs & Johnson Gaither.

It is also advised to contact the county of interest to ensure that they use the indicators reported in these publications. There would not be a need to obtain any separate tax information.

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