B08_73351018R0010_Amend_1_SF-30_Questions-Answers.pdf

(x)

73351018R0010 x x

1 copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted ; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT

THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted , such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

x

DENVER CO 80202

208050

SUITE 301

721 19TH STREET

DENVER FINANCE CENTER

DENVER ACQUISITION OFFICE FOR SBA

09/24/20180001

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) is not extended.is extended, Items 8 and 15, and returning

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended , by one of the following methods: (a) By completing

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

FACILITY CODE CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)CODE 6. ISSUED BY

PAGE OF PAGES

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.3. EFFECTIVE DATE2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

09/07/2018

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority) appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return __________________ copies to the issuing office.

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

SBA-ODA Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

The purpose of this amendment 0001 is to post the questions and answers.

Proposals are due via email no later than October 4, 2018 at 1:00 pm ET

All other terms and conditions remain the same.

Period of Performance: 11/01/2018 to 10/31/2023

Please contact the Contract Specialist with any questions.

Contract Specialist:

Ms. Tracy Lambert 703-487-8100 ext. 6714 Tracy.Lambert@sba.gov

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

Kip Sheppard

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9 A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect .

Solicitation Number

73351018R0010

Document Title

Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

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Questions and Answers

Important Clarification to Note:

SBA’s expectation is to have the data analysis and loan recommendation within 10 minutes. If they are not processed within the 10 minutes you must provide a recommendation no later than 24 hours on any given application. Any recommendation later than 24 hours may result in reduced payment by 50% of the full rate per application.

Any recommendation received later than 1 week may result in the payment reduced to

25% of the full rate per application. If a continuous issue occurs termination may be done in accordance with FAR Part 12.403 and FAR Part 49.

The total page limit for the IDIQ proposal is increased from 30 to 35 pages and it includes the IT security plan. The PROPOSAL PREPARATION INSTRUCTIONS now read as follows: There is a 35 page limit on your technical proposal for the IDIQ contract and a 30 page limit on the technical proposal for the Task Order.

Proposals are due via email no later than October 4, 2018 at 1:00 pm ET

Questions and Answers:

1. Is there an incumbent for this contract?

Answer 1: There is no incumbent. This is a new requirement.

2. Can you tell me please if there is another RFP coming for augmenting the SBA disaster loan program processing – or – has the SBA decided to make it entirely electronic?

Answer 2: SBA does not have an additional RFP in the works. The RFP posted for loan recommendation services is the only RFP expected for “processing” services.

3. Is Professional past performance acceptable and counted for the scoring for this contract.

Answer 3: Past Performance is one of the factors that will be used to score the RFP responses, as well as technical proposal and price proposal. SBA is assuming that

“Professional” Past performance means that the company has not performed these services but individuals in the company have performed these services. Past

Performance/Prior Experience Information Required has 2 parts to it; One (1) is past performance questionnaires and two (2) is information that is required as part of your the technical proposal. Past performance questionnaires are required as part of this requirement if none can be provided then you past performance will be a neutral rating.

4. What is justifiable documentation for Professional Past Performance?

Answer 4: As part of this requirement each offeror must a submit (as part of the technical proposal) Past Performance/Prior Experience Information on at least three (3) contracts performed for services comparable to the government's requirement in the similarity in topic, dollar value, workload and duration to demonstrating your ability to perform the proposed effort. For each reference, include the following information in the proposal:

• Project title,

• Description of the project, Document Title

Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

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Questions and Answers

• Contract number,

• Contract amount,

• Government Agency/Organization,

• COR’s name, address, and phone number,

• Contracting Officer’s name, address, and phone number,

• Contract and, if applicable, task order number,

• Current status, e.g., completed and/or if in progress, start and estimated completion dates,

• Dollar value and type of contract,

• Name of company being referenced, and,

• A brief narrative of why you deem the reference to be relevant to this effort

• A discussion of any problems encountered on the identified contract and the corrective action taken by the Offeror.

5. How many vendors will be awarded on this IDIQ?

Answer 5: There will only be one (1) IDIQ contract issued. This requirement is for a single award IDIQ Contract.

6. The minimum task order is $10K, approximately how many loan recommendations are on each task order.

Answer 6: It is difficult to know the exact amount of recommendations that will be needed per year. The tasks orders will be for the amount of applications received per year. The RFP contains the amount of applications received over the past ten years along with a per year estimate of files. Utilize those numbers as a baseline of the task order request.

7. The email refers to quote but the Sol is identified as RFP. Which is it?

Answer 7: RFP

8. Besides the contractor awarded this contract, is the SBA also performing data analysis and recommendations? Will contractor be doing all SBA disaster loan applications submitted, or will only be called upon when the SBA is overburdened with applications or performing a % of the applications received by the SBA?

Answer 8: The contractor is expected to provide data and recommendations for all applications received per year. The final loan decision resides with SBA – ODA.

9. Is there any other vendor providing these services now? If yes, who? What is the contract number? Will the SBA make available a copy of the current contract, along with all the contract invoices or should I submit a request under the Freedom of Information

Act for these documents?

Answer 9: There is no other vendor(s) providing these services. This is a new requirement.

10. Will the SBA, as part of its evaluation, be asking for a demonstration of the contractor's system?

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Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

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Questions and Answers

Answer 10: As a part of the evaluation, a demonstration could be request by SBA-ODA to determine final award.

11. What type of data/information will the SBA provide to determine the "character of an applicant"? Does the SBA consider an applicant's character based on his/her credit score? How does the SBA determine if the applicant is of "good character" or other then

"good character" and how does the SBA define each category?

Answer 11: A character determination is a requirement of all SBA loans. The contractor will be provided a completed standard loan application. The contractor should be prepared to provide information regarding the applicants’ criminal history, debarment or suspension from SBA programs, ongoing judgments, liens, or lawsuits. The contractor will work with SBA – ODA to confirm satisfactory data is sourced.

12. Under "Applicant Specific Characteristics", for each characteristic requested, what information/data will the SBA be providing for the contractor to analyze?

Answer 12: SBA – ODA will provide the contractor with a standard loan application. It is up to the contractor to source and provide data to SBA – ODA regarding each specific characteristic.

13. Can ODA give us the distribution of requests from homeowners, renters, businesses by size, and nonprofits?

Answer 13: Numbers are as of March 31, 2018:

87.80% home applications

4.30% rental applications

.86% non-profit

7.04% business (non rental)

14. Under applicant specific characteristics, is “character of applicant” determined

a. by information collected by SBA as part of the application process, or

b. by the contractor through third-party sources to supplement the information?

Answer 14: A character determination is a requirement of all SBA loans. The contractor will be provided a completed standard loan application. The contractor should be prepared to provide information regarding the applicants’ criminal history, debarment or suspension from SBA programs, ongoing judgments, liens, or lawsuits. The contractor will work with SBA – ODA to confirm satisfactory data is sourced.

15. If in question 2 above, the answer is “b”, by the contractor, then some requests from third parties may take a longer period of time than is available for the 10 minute turnaround.

Which is the determining factor:

a. ten minute turnaround or

b. response on applicant character?

Answer 15: The contractor is expected to provide the information within the timeframe given. If the information is not provided in the timeframe given, it will count against the performance objective in the service delivery section.

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Questions and Answers

16. Does SBA control the application filing deadlines (the typically 60 day limit after a disaster), or is this the responsibility of the contractor.

Answer 16: SBA – ODA will set the application filing deadline date in concert with

FEMA.

17. If a business is destroyed (or an agricultural cooperative, etc.), the cash flow is also destroyed. A loan might be granted to reinstate the business for future cash flow to be reinstated. Is this part of the overall consideration that is part of the first six months working with the SBA on protocols?

Answer 17: Business loans are part of the RFP. Information about the business is expected to be sourced and a recommendation given in the 10 minute timeframe referenced in the RFP.

18. To meet the ten minute requirement, if an application is incomplete, would it just be treated as a rejection with a notation to collect more information, or would we expect that the application would not be submitted until it is guaranteed complete?

Answer 18: The information provided to the contractor is expected to be complete when submitted to the contractor.

19. Can the SBA give us counts of the number of emergency calls placed by year during:

a. Monday – Friday

i. 8:00 am – 9:00 pm

ii. 9:00 pm – 8:00 am

b. Saturday – Sunday

i. 8:00 am – 9:00 pm

ii. 9:00 pm – 8:00 am

c. Holidays

i. 8:00 am – 9:00 pm

ii. 9:00 pm – 8:00 am

Answer 19: SBA – ODA has a customer service center that continuously answers calls.

The system must be available 24 X 7. The only types of emergency calls that will be happening between ODA and the contractor are for the reports that are not being completed in a timely manner or if the system goes down. This is a new requirement.

SBA does not have any insight as to how many emergency calls will be needed.

20. In Section 2 SOW 1.0 "Background", ODA notes that it is "NOT seeking a contractor to build or customize a system or the purchase of hardware/software," seeking instead the provision of services. However, 3.13.5, "Data, Data Rights and Computer Software" specifies that "all data and source code produced, recorded, transferred, delivered or manipulated under this contract will remain the exclusive property of the Government..."

(emphasis ours.) If the vendor contemplates modifying an existing, proprietary loan review platform for the purpose of this project, will that software be considered Government property?

Answer 20: SBA does not require ownership of the source code and has removed those words from this section as shown here. 3.13.5DATA, DATA RIGHTS AND COMPUTER

SOFTWARE Notwithstanding any other clause concerning data, data rights and

Document Title

Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

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Questions and Answers computer software and hardware under this contract, all data and source code produced, recorded, transferred, delivered or manipulated under this contract will remain the exclusive property of the Government, irrespective of the manner or method of recording or storage and no matter what form of computer mechanism is used in the processing of said information or data. The Government will retain exclusive rights and domain over any by-product produced under this contract, or any other use of the data produced under this contract by either plan or accident. SBA notes that all other language remains and that 52.227-17 applies to this procurement.

21. Will monetary amounts need to be suggested when recommending approval or rejection of the loan request?

Answer 21: SBA – ODA determines the estimated loan amount. The loan recommendation and data analysis response should include a dollar range that is affordable for the applicant.

22. Does the ODA expect its business rules or requirements to change during the process of development?

Answer 22: SBA – ODA updates business rules periodically (most likely annually). It is expected that the contractor will update their business rules to coincide the SBA – ODA change(s). At this time there are no immediate changes expected.

23. The following fields are not included in the loan request documents (both home loans and small business loans) that we found on the SBA website. However, they are included in the “”Property Specific Characteristics” and “Applicant Specific Characteristics” that will be considered as part of the analysis.

a. Square footage of disaster damaged property

b. Flood zone determination of disaster damaged property

c. Whether disaster damaged property is located over a body of water

d. Character of the applicant

e. Creditworthiness of the applicant (assuming this is not calculated from income and debt information submitted by the applicant)

f. Fraud detection on applicant

Does the ODA maintain these in an internal dataset, or will the Contractor be expected to source the information themselves within the 10-minute response timeframe?

Answer 23: The contractor is expected to source the characteristics mentioned in the

RFP. The contractor will then be expected to provide a recommendation within the 10 minute timeframe noted in the RFP.

24. What version(s) and product(s) of Salesforce is the ODA using?

Answer 24: SBA – ODA is using the Summer 2018 version of the Salesforce

Government Cloud.

25. Would supporting information for the recommendations be stored in DCMS fields populated by a push from our server or will it be contained in individual digital files to be attached to the relevant Salesforce Object?

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Questions and Answers

Answer 25: SBA - ODA looking for the vendor to recommend a technical approach and conduct a change impact analysis that will assist in those types of decisions.

26. RFP Document, page 8, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 1.0 Background, pp5. “It is important to note that ODA is NOT seeking a contractor to build or customize a system or the purchase of software/hardware. The service provider awarded this contract will analyze data and provide recommendations on loan actions utilizing the service provider’s system(s)/methods in accordance with ODA policies and procedures. The contractor will begin providing recommendations after the documenting and implementing business rules, system integration, system testing is completed and ready to go live. This should take no more than six months from the date of contract award.”

Given the 10 minute return SLA, will you please confirm that all work (including collection and analysis of property and applicant characteristics) needs to occur in an automated fashion without human involvement?

Answer 26: Yes. SBA – ODA does not believe it is possible to provide manual loan recommendations in the timeframe required. However, SBA – ODA will review the technical feasibility of all respondents.

27. RFP Document, page 9, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements, pp1. “The contractor must provide a loan recommendation as “approve” or “decline” along with a copy of all information (in an electronic documentation format) that the contractor used to make its recommendation, submitted to ODA for technical/final review.”

What is the definition of the referenced “electronic documentation format”? Does this mean data file (i.e. flat file), or electronic document (i.e. PDF, Word)? Please clarify.

Answer 27: SBA is looking for the contractor to provide us with a solution on what and how the documentation will be submitted in an electronic format. This information will be determined based on what your solution is to this requirement. The information must be able to integrate with DCMS 2.

28. RFP Document, page 10, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements, pp9-11. “In addition to data analysis and loan recommendations, the contractor shall provide the following information when its recommendation is transmitted to ODA through DCMS, as well as identifying in its offer, all specific sources of the information analyzed and used to support its recommendation and a copy of the information analyzed.

The following is a list of the general types of information that the contractor must analyze in making a loan recommendation:

Property specific characteristics such as: location of disaster damaged property;

ownership of disaster damaged property; square footage of disaster damaged property;

value of disaster damaged property; flood zone determination of disaster damaged property; whether disaster damaged property is located over a body of water; whether property is owner-occupied or rented.

Applicant specific characteristics such as: primary residency of applicant; character of applicant; creditworthiness of applicant; income of applicant; business activity of applicant; size standard of applicant based on SBA size determination; fraud detection on applicant.”

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Data Analysis and Loan Recommendation Services

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Questions and Answers

1. Please clarify whether SBA will be providing the Property specific characteristics and Applicant specific characteristics referenced or whether it is required for the contractor to provide/procure these.

2. If some will be provided and others need to be provided by the contractor, please specify which ones will be provided.

3. If it is required for contractors to provide these characteristics, should contractors input these costs into the transactional loan recommendation line item or as miscellaneous line items?

Answer 28: The contractor will provide the property and applicant specific characteristics to SBA – ODA, sourcing the information themselves. The contractor will be provided a standard loan application from SBA - ODA. Any pricing model should include costs associated with obtaining this data.

29. RFP Document, page 10, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements, pp11. “Applicant specific characteristics such as: primary residency of applicant;

character of applicant; creditworthiness of applicant; income of applicant; business activity of applicant; size standard of applicant based on SBA size determination; fraud detection on applicant.”

1. Will SBA be providing a credit report on the borrower(s) or is the expectation that the

Contractor will supply the credit data for loan recommendation? If the contractor must provide, is the SBA interested in single, dual or a tri-merge? Would the SBA require more than the credit report, i.e. reaccess/reissue, dynamic access (changing borrowers)?

What else in addition to the tri-merge would SBA require?

2. Does SBA require the Contractor to perform verification services (income) within the loan recommendation process? Or just utilize income from the application within the loan recommendation process? If the former, does SBA prefer Verification of Income?

Verification of Employment and/or 4506T?

3. If provided by the contractor, how does the SBA want the credit information to be delivered? Due to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), this would need to be delivered by an FCRA compliant entity.

4. If the Credit Reporting features of the Applicant Specific Characteristics are required to be provided by the contractor, only 1 year of pricing can be provided due to price variability from the bureaus and FICO. Therefore these items cannot be priced in the

IDIQ pricing form but will be priced in the Task Order Pricing (year 1). If the government prefers an alternative structure, please advise.

Answer 29: The contractor will be provided a standard loan application from SBA –

ODA. The expectation that the Contractor will supply the credit data for loan recommendation based on that standard practices that they use for this type of service.

The contractor will provide the property and applicant specific characteristics to SBA –

ODA, sourcing the information themselves. Any pricing model should include costs associated with obtaining this data.

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30. RFP Document, page 10, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements, pp12 “The Contractor shall return or destroy and permanently eliminate from its possession all data provided by SBA and used in its analysis and generation of the loan recommendation. This data must be returned or destroyed immediately by the Contractor after the loan recommendation is provided. This contract does not contemplate that the

Contractor will store or maintain any SBA data or records. The offer must detail how the

Contractor will return or destroy this data and how quickly this information can be removed from its possession.”

What is SBA’s definition for destroying data immediately? Is there any latency required for questions from SBA on data/decision for a loan recommendation? Any requirement for support of the recommendation? If immediately destroyed then there is no ability to troubleshoot/review.

Answer 30: SBA – ODA is looking for the contractor to ensure industry best practices and proper protocols are followed. SBA does not want the data stored on any networks for future use.

31. RFP Document, page 4, Section 1 – Statement of Work, Part 1.3

“Proposals must be submitted via electronic copy directly to the Contracting Specialist at

Tracy.Lambert@sba.gov no later than 1:00 PM ET October 04, 2018.”

Will the Government extend the proposal due date to 30 days after questions are answered and posted on FBO? Uncertainty around data provided by SBA versus sourced by the contractor, the level of human interaction in decisioning, and the type of decision engine, all impact the response approach and corresponding proposal.

Answer 31: The date of final submission will not be changed.

32. RFP Document page 8, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements

“The contractor must provide a loan recommendation as ‘approve’ or ‘decline’”

Is the contractor expected to build a credit loss model that is statistically based? Or, is the loan recommendation pass/fail on a rules-based engine?

Answer 32: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is expected to provide a recommendation based on SOP 50 30 9. SBA – ODA will provide all calculations and acceptable levels.

33. RFP Document page 8, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements

“The contractor must provide a loan recommendation as ‘approve’ or ‘decline’”

Will the SBA provide historical loan level loss data to the contractor for the development of a statistically based credit loss model?

Answer 33: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is

34. RFP Document page 9, Section 2 – Statement of Work, Part 2.1 Specific Requirements

“The interface will include select fields from an industry standard loan application.”

Would you provide more detail about the “select fields from an industry standard loan application”?

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Questions and Answers

1. What are the specific fields to be provided?

2. Are the fields currently on SBA’s Disaster Home/Sole Proprietor Loan

Application OMB No. 3245-0018?

3. Is credit considered part of the application and is it provided by the SBA?

Answer 34: The application is attached to the RFP (See Attachment 6 SBA FORM 5C

Loan Application). The contractor will be provided the application. The application is current. The contractor will obtain all applicant and property specific characteristics mentioned in the RFP.

35. RFP Document, page 42 of 44, Section 5.3 part 1. Technical Approach item 6.

“The contractor and/or subcontractor must include all key personnel resumes and contract responsibilities. Offerors are require to: (1) identify all proposed subcontractors; (2) identify whether each subcontractor is similarly situated or not; (3) describe the tasks to be performed by each subcontractor; (4) the number of the subcontractor’s personnel and the prime’s personnel who will perform each task; and (5) the amount of the proposed price that will be spent on non-similarly situated subcontractors.”

For item (2), what does the Government mean by “similarly situated”? Is the government referring to business size, geographic location, or something else? Please clarify.

Answer 35: The term similarly situated entity is defined at 13 C.F.R. § 125.1 as follows:

Similarly situated entity is a subcontractor that has the same small business program status as the prime contractor. This means that: For a HUBZone requirement, a subcontractor that is a qualified HUBZone small business concern; for a small business set-aside, partial set-aside, or reserve a subcontractor that is a small business concern; for a SDVO small business requirement, a subcontractor that is a self-certified SDVO SBC;

for an 8(a) requirement, a subcontractor that is an 8(a) certified Program Participant; for a

WOSB or EDWOSB contract, a subcontractor that has complied with the requirements of part 127. In addition to sharing the same small business program status as the prime contractor, a similarly situated entity must also be small for the NAICS code that the prime contractor assigned to the subcontract the subcontractor will perform.

36. Will personal property collateral be a factor in decisioning?

Answer 36: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 to determine collateral requirements. SBA

– ODA rarely takes Personal Property as collateral for a loan.

37. Is the FEMA registration and federal contracts list validations included in scope of services?

Answer 37: SBA – ODA currently receives information from FEMA separate of this

RFP. It is expected that this process will continue.

38. We can find no loan amount on the application form, is it ODA's intent to secure a qualified loan amount as part of the vendor's recommendation?

Answer 38: SBA – ODA will determine estimated disaster related losses. The contractor will provide SBA – ODA a maximum affordable loan amount for each application.

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39. Will contractor be required to order credit reports to determine borrower credit worthiness and confirm debt obligations?

Answer 39: Yes, the contractor will be required to order credit reports to determine borrower credit worthiness and confirm debt obligations

40. Will contractor be receiving loan requests from corporations under this engagement and if so, will the credit decision be based on the owner of the company?

Answer 40: Yes. Credit decisions are based on the owner(s) of the company and in some cases on the creditworthiness of the business.

41. Cost: Given that no one can predict the volume of loan applications that could occur at any given time and the fact that vendors will incur considerable fixed costs each month, will SBA guarantee a minimum number of applications or incorporate a monthly minimum fee?

Answer 41: SBA – ODA provided a ten year history of loan applications as well as an estimated per-year average. SBA – ODA is unable to guarantee a minimum number of applications.

42. Source Data: What information other than the application data is to be provided by SBA to the contractor?

Answer 42: The contractor will be provided the loan application from SBA - ODA. No other information will be provided. The contractor is expected to source data based on the application.

43. Is there an incumbent for these services? And if not, who is currently performing this work?

Answer 43: There is no incumbent for this work. SBA – ODA personnel are currently performing this function.

44. It is presumed that the SBA already has a decisioning algorithm built, but would the SBA be open to implementing a Business Process Management (BPM) solution recommended by the offeror?

Answer 44: The RFP is for the contractor to provide the recommendation as well as sourcing the accompanying data.

45. Would the offeror be responsible for the maintenance and enhancements within the

DCMS Salesforce environment?

Answer 45: The contractor will provide a recommendation and the data accompanying the recommendation utilizing the contractor’s system. This information will then be provided to SBA – ODA for final decisioning. The contractor will not be working in the

SBA – ODA system.

46. Many of the data elements specified in the Property Specific Characteristics and

Applicant Specific Characteristics are not included as fields in the sample Disaster Home

Loan Application provided, is the service provider expected to secure this data through outside sources or will this data be provided by the SBA?

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Answer 46: The RFP is for the contractor to provide a recommendation and source the data utilizing the loan application.

47. Will we be able to determine and examine the current methodology utilized for approval of SBA loans?

a. Does it include an economic analysis of the area impacted and applicant utilizing

Department of Commerce Census Data?

b. Does it include Chamber of Commerce Data?

c. Does it include information from Dunn and Bradstreet?

Answer 47: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is expected to provide a recommendation based on SOP 50 30 9. SBA – ODA will provide all calculations and acceptable levels. A. No, B. No, C. SBA – ODA utilize D&B on a case by case basis.

48. Are there any current and/or unique SBA data sources would be made available as part of the decisioning process?

Answer 48: SBA – ODA will provide the loan application. Sourcing the data is up to the contractor.

49. Does the current approval process consider the fact that many small businesses do not have the capability to repay a loan after a disaster? Is SBA looking to ability to repay as part of the decisioning process?

Answer 49: The RFP is for the contractor to provide a recommendation (Approve or

Decline) utilizing information sourced by the contractor. SBA – ODA will provide the calculations and acceptable levels used at this time. SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP) provides how SBA currently decisions loans.

50. The SOW indicates that the first six months of the first Task Order will include documenting and implementing business processes. Does SBA anticipate that these tasks go beyond the first six months?

Answer 50: No. The first task order is to allow the contractor time to learn SBA – ODA acceptable levels of income, DTI, creditworthiness, character, etc. Six months is a reasonable timeframe based on market research.

51. If a POC such as the Contracting Officer has retired but the contractor has their contact information, can the contractor still use that person in the Past Performance?

Answer 51: It is up to you to identify who is going to fill out the past performance questionnaires. In my experience, most of the time Contracting Officers have to go back to the program office for technical input to finalize the report.

52. Will this platform be integrated into any existing SBA technology?

Answer 52: The contractor will provide a recommendation and source data. The contractor will then initiate an API which will send the information to SBA – ODA. The contractor will not be provided access to SBA – ODA systems other than the API mentioned previously.

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53. Can the loan application form be amended to authorize collection of records from credit bureaus? The loan application does not specifically authorize these consumer records.

Answer 53: The loan application will not be amended. The contractor is expected to provide credit bureau(s) information to the SBA – ODA.

54. Does SBA have the ability to set different loan terms, such as interest rate or loan limit, to reflect a credit risk determination made using financial services industry models?

Answer 54: SBA – ODA will provide the contractor with the interest rate, loan term, and loan amount to be used when decisioning.

55. Does the DCMS system utilize entity resolution to determine whether the applicant has previously submitted one or more applications, whether or not approved or declined?

Answer 55: Yes, the DCMS system utilizes entity resolution to determine whether the applicant has previously submitted one or more applications and whether or not approved or declined

56. Will SBA consider a third determination of eligibility that requires manual review because of a discrepancy in verification of required information without an indication of fraud?

Answer 56: SBA – ODA requires 90% of recommendations to be provided within the 10 minute timeframe noted in the RFP (see: Service Delivery Summary and Performance

Requirements). The process of providing recommendations is up to the contractor.

57. What are the DCMS touch points and integrations required.

Answer 57: The contractor will be provided a loan application via API from SBA - ODA.

The contractor will provide a recommendation and the sourced data to SBA – ODA via

API. No other touchpoints are expected.

58. What are the business rules currently in use and what is the criteria used for loan decisioning? How are the property specific and applicant specific criteria used for loan decisioning? Are these to be extracted from Chapter 6 of SOP or is there another document that outlines this information?

Answer 58: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is

59. There are some exceptions identified in Chapter 6 of the SOP. Is there a more comprehensive list of exceptions available that can be used in decisioning process? For example, exceptions like how to treat missing data, and what is and is not mandatory criteria?

Answer 59: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is

60. Is there a scoring or other evaluation method for non-mandatory criteria, and associated scoring thresholds?

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Answer 60: SBA – ODA follows SOP 50 30 9 (attached to RFP). The contractor is

61. If a batch process is requested for a backlog, does SBA agree that the 10-minute time requirement is not applicable

Answer 61: SAB-ODA will not be sending over backlog application in a batch process format. SBA – ODA will provide loan applications as received. This includes all hours of the day and all days of the week. The contractor is expected to provide a recommendation within 10 minutes of receipt of the loan application from SBA - ODA.

62. The SOW clearly states that data is to be removed and deleted immediately. Federal data retention laws require that data be retained for regulatory purposes. Can you please clarify.

Answer 62: SBA – ODA is looking for the contractor to ensure industry best practices

63. It is assumed that the workflow described in Chapter 7 of the SOP is encoded in DCMS and is not a part of the scope of this RFP.

Answer 63: Chapter 7 of SOP 50 30 9 is titled “Loan Decision.” The contractor will not be decisioning loans. The contractor will provide a recommendation and the sourced data behind the recommendation. SBA – ODA will decision all loans. This includes determining the final loan amount, the interest rate, the loan term, collateral requirements, guarantee/guarantor requirements, and insurance requirements.

64. Is this a follow-on to a current contract and if so, who is the incumbent?

Answer 64: This is a new requirement. There is no incumbent and this is not a follow-on to an existing contract.

65. How many firms indicated intent to bid on the RFP?

Answer 65: There have been 31 companies that have shown interest in this requirement since the initial RFI was released in May.

66. On page 40 of 44 – Evaluation Factors – IT Security Plan. Is this included in the 30-page limit of the Technical Proposal, or can it be an addendum?

Answer 66: The total page limit for the IDIQ proposal is increased from 30 to 35 pages and it includes the IT security plan. There is a 35 page limit on your technical proposal for the IDIQ contract and a 30 page limit on the technical proposal for the Task Order.

67. Labor Categories: The pricing sample display 2 Labor Categories…are these examples only, or does SBA have a description of the skills and experience for the Program/Project

Manager and the Quality Assurance Specialist?

Answer 67: SBA – ODA does not have examples of skills or experience. The contractor will should this information in the RFP response.

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68. Where do the Conflict of Interest, Confidentiality/NDA documents belong (as addendum to Technical Proposal or as part of Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions)?

Answer 68: These documents are not required at this time. They will be needed when the award is issued. If you have a conflict of interest that must be stated in your response. If you have any assumptions, conditions, or exceptions with any of these documents you must state that in the Assumptions, Conditions, or Exceptions documents.

69. Should the SF1447 be included in the Pricing Proposal, or under separate cover?

Answer 69: The SF-1447 and Amendments can be submitted with the price proposal or under a separate cover. Either way will be acceptable.

70. The standard operating procedure, "SOP 50 30 9," for loan decisioning (attachment 5) references data that is not on the sample loan application, "SBA Form 5C Loan

Application" (attachment 6). Examples cited under Chapter 6 of the SOP include (a) the credit report and (b) federal tax transcripts. Other data referenced as part of the SOP's general loan eligibility include: (c) character determination, as disclosed on SBA Form

912; (d) pre-disaster fair market value (FMV); (e) Loss Verification Report; etc. Should the contractor assume that this information will be provided as part of the integration with the DCMS system? Or should the contractor assume that they will need to source this data? If the latter, will that be required within the 10 minute window?

Answer 70: The contractor is expected to source this data. SBA – ODA will provide a loan application to the contractor.

71. The SOP for loan decisioning references credit report data (Chapters 5 & 6). Will SBA request the credit report for the application and provide the data electronically as part of the integration with DCMS system?

Answer 71: The contractor is expected to source this data. SBA – ODA will provide a loan application to the contractor.

72. If SBA is not providing the credit report data and the contractor must pull credit, many agreements with credit reporting agencies' specify that "services are for your exclusive one-time use". These types of agreements may prevent a contractor from transferring the credit report back to the government. Will the government include the contractor as a party to the government's existing agreement(s) with credit reporting agencies? This would allow a contractor to pull credit on behalf of the government and include that when its recommendation is transmitted to ODA through DCMS.

Answer 72: The contractor is to provide the credit report(s) to SBA-ODA and the contractor will be responsible to pay for the credit reports. The price and logistics are part of your proposed price and solution. The contractor is giving SBA-ODA the recommendation based on the report(s) that they received and SBA-ODA will be making the final decision backed on the contractors recommendation and backup documentation ie: credit report(s).

73. The evaluation criteria indicate that SBA will evaluate past performance of the prime as well as subcontractor(s) performance (p.43). However, the instructions for past

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Questions and Answers performance limit past performance information to that of the prime (p.38). Will the SBA allow 1 past performance information and questionnaire from a subcontractor?

Answer 73: SBA has revised the past performance evaluations information as follows:

The past performance should be based on the Prime contractor’s experience or subcontractor experience. This can include the prime working as a subcontractor or the subcontractor working as a Prime. If you are submitting information as the subcontractor please make sure that the roles are clearly stated. Also make sure that that the subcontractors past performance shows who the Prime contractor is going to be.

74. The 30 page limit for the Technical proposals appears to include the IT Security Plan. A comprehensive IT Security Plan that meets NIST requirements is significantly longer than 30 pages by itself. Will SBA exclude the IT Security Plan from the page limitation for the Technical proposal?

Answer 74: The total page limit for the IDIQ proposal is increased from 30 to 35 pages

75. Sole Proprietor Loan App: Is a business credit report required to decision the loan or just a consumer credit report? If business credit report is needed, which data sources are required? (e.g. Dun&Bradstreet, Experian Business, etc.)

Answer 75: Business credit reports are only required on a case-by-case basis. SOP 50 30

9 provides for when a business credit report is required. SBA uses D&B.

76. Sole Proprietor Loan App: If a damaged property is associated with a business, will the consumer also provide their current address

Answer 76: The loan application will generally include the damaged property address and the mailing address of individuals associated with the Sole Proprietor Business.

77. Sole Proprietor Loan App: Is the expectation that all fields from the loan app will be submitted real-time via an API to the Decisioning solution or just a portion? (e.g.

Disclosure responses).

Answer 77: The loan application will be provided to the contractor when received by the

SBA – ODA via Application Programming Interface (API).

78. Sole Proprietor Loan App: Is the only data being passed from ODA to the vendor the application data or will the consumer credit bureau file also be passed?

Answer 78: The loan application will be provided to the contractor. The credit report is expected to be sourced by the contractor. The contractor will also provide a recommendation utilizing the credit report and other factors that are sourced by the

79. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 1/pg. 7: Regarding comment: "It is important to note that ODA is NOT seeking a contractor to build or customize a system or the purchase of software/hardware." Post recommendations, will SBA turn on the service for real-time decisioning or is there a chance SBA will not proceed w/ running transactions?

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Answer 79: The RFP is for the contractor to provide a recommendation and all contractor sourced data to SBA – ODA via an Application Programming Interface (API). SBA –

ODA will then have final decisioning authority over the loan.

80. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 8: Regarding comment: "The contractor must provide a loan recommendation as “approve” or “decline” along with a copy of all information (in an electronic documentation format)". Can you provide an example or describe the documentation format? Typically we provide "decisions" in a real-time API along with credit attributes and 3rd party data reports that were accessed and used during the decisioning process.

Answer 80: SBA – ODA and the winning bidder will discuss the file format. The information will be provided via Application Programming Interface (API) to SBA –

ODA.

81. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 8: Regarding comment: "ODA expects the contractor to fully incorporate any changes identified by ODA into its system within 30 days of when notified by the COR or CO of the changes." Will the vendor be able to negotiate this turn-time of 30 days based on size and scope of recommended changes?

Answer 81: SBA – ODA does not anticipate major changes that will take more than 30 days to implement. Such changes will be discussed with the contractor to allow sufficient enough time.

82. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 9: Regarding comment: "The

Contractor shall return or destroy and permanently eliminate from its possession all data provided by SBA and used in its analysis and generation of the loan recommendation."

What is timeframe by which loan details/decisions should be destroyed and removed from Contractor system?

Answer 82: SBA – ODA is looking for the contractor to ensure industry best practices

83. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 8: Can you define Data Analysis?

Does it include analyzing the loan perfomance data based on the decisioning criteria or is it just analysis using all of the application data, appended data, and business rules?

Answer 83: Data Analysis includes reviewing the information sourced by the contractor to ensure it is acceptable by SBA – ODA standards (see: SOP 50 30 9).

84. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 9: For flood zone determination, does ODA also want the CBRA description?

Answer 84: Yes, for flood zone determination, ODA does want the CBRA description.

85. SOW-Terms-Loan Recommendations Section 2.1/ pg. 9: After a disaster is declared, will

ODA provide the vendor with the geographic area of the disaster? Will it be by FIPS? If not FIPS, what will it be?

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Answer 85: SBA – ODA will provide the disaster declaration information as it is declared by SBA – ODA. File format will be discussed with the winning bidder.

86. Page 8 of 44, the SOW states: To meet this critical business need, ODA is seeking a contractor to analyze data and provide loan recommendations based on industry standard loan making practices.

a. What specific data will come from the SBA/ODA in the form of data from specific data fields in SBA/ODA systems?

Answer 86a: SBA – ODA will provide the loan application. The contract will source the data and provide a recommendation based on the loan application. The information will then by submitted to SBA – ODA by API.

b. Would the contractor have to input any data received from the SBA/ODA manually?

Answer 86b: The contractor will determine whether information is input manually.

c. Is all information required to make a loan recommendation received only from the

SBA/ODA or from third parties such as flood insurance companies?

Answer 86c: SBA – ODA will provide the loan application. The contract will source the data and provide a recommendation based on the loan application. The information will then by submitted to SBA – ODA by API.

87. Are all of the ODA policies and procedures that are relevant to the Contractors duties:

a. Documented? Information that would be needed:

i. Loan characteristics,

ii. Eligibility characteristics…