AG-2B46-S-17-0002_Attachment_1-Statement_of_Work.pdf

AG-2B46-S-17-0002

Attachment 1

Title and Closing Agent Specifications/Statement of Work

A. OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this contract is to retain closing services for acquisition of easements on behalf of the United States of America (USDA), by and through the Secretary of Agriculture, pursuant to Title XII of the Food Security Act of 1985, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3837.

B. BACKGROUND:

Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) easement programs authorize the acquisition of easement rights from willing landowners. NRCS is the lead agency within the USDA charged with administering Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).

C. SCOPE:

The contractor shall furnish all closing services, including obtaining title insurance from the title insurance company approved by the United States Attorney General. The contractor will perform the same services as in a commercial transaction, including obtaining and recording deeds, and any necessary curative instruments to assure merchantable, insurable title to the easement area in the name of the United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Agriculture.

The closing services will be performed in the county of the easement in Georgia, unless the contractor, NRCS, and landowner agree to a different location. NRCS may provide closing instructions to the contractor to perform those duties at a location other than the county of the easement in Georgia.

The contractor must coordinate and facilitate the following services:

1. Obtaining and updating chain of title, including copies of all instruments that created rights, interests, or encumbrances on the property.

2. Providing preliminary title commitments and issuing final title insurance policies.

3. Working with landowners to clear exceptions on title to the property.

4. Obtaining signatures on subordination agreements and limited lien waivers.

5. Obtaining signatures on Warranty Easement Deeds.

6. Other services, as necessary, to finalize the easement transaction, to include recoding of the survey plat and warranty easement deed per Georgia State Law.

D. STANDARDS AND RESPONSIBILITY:

The contractor is responsible for having current knowledge of the requirements of Georgia State Law in connection with closing real estate transactions and title clearance. The title insurance company must comply with all Georgia State Laws, including title insurance reserves retirements. The contractor must be an approved closing agent in the State of Georgia.

The contractor will provide evidence of at least $1 million in liability insurance coverage for errors and omissions and fidelity coverage in the amount of the government's purchase price for the easement on each individual who has access to the funds, or provide information from the title insurance company for which the contractor will close the transaction(s) to the satisfaction forces or provide reimbursement to NRCS for any loss caused by fraud or dishonesty or failure by the attorneys, agents, or employees of the contractor to comply with NRCS's written closing instructions. The ALTA Closing Protection Letter Revised 3/27/87 is satisfactory to meet this condition of responsibility.

E. CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

A contractor cannot close on an easement purchase for a spouse, children, partners or business associates nor have a financial interest in the real estate to be covered by the proposed easement.

F. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED BY THE CONTRACTOR:

PRELIMINARY TITLE SEARCH, COMMITMENT, AND UPDATE and ALTA CLOSING

PROTECTION LETTER

The contractor must conduct a title search and obtain the following:

1. Copies of all instruments that created rights, interests, or encumbrances on the proposed easement property.

2. A chain of title, including all deeds referenced in the chain of title.

3. Preliminary title commitment, which must cover both the easement area and access for ingress and egress, and must commit to issuing the final title policy to the “United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Agriculture” on the ALTA U.S. Policy Form.

The title search will be for a sufficient period of time for the title company to insure the title without objectionable exceptions, and will determine all owners of record, outstanding mortgages, liens, judgments or pending suits, outstanding tax, claims, easements or rights-of-way of any type, whether oil, gas, and mineral interests have been severed, and any other exceptions that may cloud the title of the easement to be purchased.

Title search services must be provided within 15 business days of receiving the request from NRCS. The contractor will be provided with the name and address of the landowner, proposed easement map, and a copy of the deed.

The contractor will forward the Preliminary Commitment of Title Insurance, with attachments and references, to the appropriate Program Manager. The contractor will submit an invoice for the Preliminary Title Work via the IPP platform.

An updated title commitment, and any additional instruments discovered, will be issued after the NRCS Georgia State Office provides the contractor with the final survey plat. This title commitment will be forwarded to the Office of General Counsel (OGC) for issuance of the Preliminary Title Opinion. The title search update is to make certain that there have been no changes in the status of the title since issuance of the Preliminary Commitment to Title Insurance. This is due within 15 days of receipt of final plat.

The contractor will provide ALTA Closing Protection Letter Revised 3/27/87 to meet the condition of responsibility listed above. The ALTA Closing Protection Letter Revised 3/27/87 is required for each individual closing transaction, to be issued once final survey is received by contractor and updated title commitment is issued to NRCS Georgia.

CLOSING SERVICES

The Contractor will be required to obtain the execution and recordation, as needed, of such items as: survey plat per Georgia State Law, Warranty Easement Deed, other deeds, releases, full or partial satisfaction of mortgages, subordination's, lien waivers, affidavits of material liens and child support, and various types of releases of encumbrances of the property.

Upon receipt of the required documents, and incorporating an easement plat along with legal description prepared by a registered Georgia surveyor, NRCS will obtain from the Office of General Counsel (OGC) a Preliminary Title Opinion (PTO) that will set out any exceptions to the title. OGC will determine which exceptions are acceptable and which exceptions must be cured.

The contractor is required to close within 15 business days after receipt of the PTO and closing instructions letter from NRCS. The contractor will not close any transaction or record deeds or other instruments prior to receiving the PTO and closing instructions letter.

At the time of closing, the Contractor will perform normal commercial closing procedures, and obtain recordation of all instruments necessary to provide satisfactory insurable title in the name of the United States of America. The Contractor will furnish a Final Title Policy in an insured amount that is the same as the consideration paid for the wetland easement. The Final Title Policy shall be on ALTA U.S. Policy Form and will be issued by a title insurance company that is on the Attorney General's approved list.

The Contractor will close the transaction, record the deeds and other instruments as necessary and insure that the following has occurred:

1. No new encumbrances have been recorded against the subject property since the date of the title commitment.

2. Receipt, execution, and recordation of the Warranty Easement Deed from the landowner.

3. Delivery of the policy of title insurance referred to below.

4. All exceptions required to be removed, released, subordinated, waived, or otherwise handled as set forth in the Preliminary Title Opinion from the Office of General Counsel have been completed and the applicable documents recorded.

5. All taxes, assessments, etc., are paid to the date that the Warranty Easement Deed is recorded.

6. Comply with any listed title commitment or binder requirements.

If any new encumbrances have been recorded against the subject property since the date of the title commitment, the Contractor will notify the Program Manager and will not proceed until further instructions are received.

FINAL TITLE INSURANCE

The final policy should be issued to "United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Agriculture" using the ALTA U.S. Policy Form. The amount of owners' coverage should be listed as "To be determined" on the Preliminary Title Commitment and in the amount stated on the Warranty Easement Deed on the final title policy. The type of ownership should read "Warranty Easement". Landowners should include those owning the easement area property and those owning property providing ingress/egress.

Upon completion of the closing, the Contractor will send to NRCS the ALTA U.S. Policy Form naming the United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Agriculture as the insured, in the amount of the purchase price as of the date and time of recording of the Warranty Easement Deed to the United States of America. The policy of title insurance will be free and clear of any and all encumbrances (exceptions) to the title except those shown as acceptable in the OGC Preliminary Title Opinion. At the time of closing, the Contractor will provide a Settlement Statement to the landowner in a form similar to HOD-I (8-87) RESPA, HB 4305.2.

POST CLOSING/RECORDING

The Contractor will deliver the following to the Program Manager within ten (10) business days following closing:

1. A copy of the invoice covering the closing costs, cost of the title insurance policy, and recording fees. Invoicing will be done via IPP.

2. Policy of title insurance (original and one copy).

3. The original recorded copy and one copy of the Warranty Easement Deed to the

United States of America.

4. The original of the settlement statement.

5. Certified copies of any title clearance documents showing the recordation date.

Upon receipt of the final documents, NRCS will obtain a Final Title Opinion (FTO) from the OGC. Any corrections identified in the FTO will need to be addressed by the contractor within 30 days.

G. DELIVERY

All Preliminary Title Insurance Commitments must be delivered within 15 business days of request. Updates are also due within 15 days of receipt of survey plat.

Closings must occur within 15 days of receipt of PTO and closing instructions. Post-closing documents must be received within 10 days of closing, for a max of 30 days for all easements recorded after receiving the OGC Preliminary Title Opinion and closing instructions from NRCS.

H. PAYMENT

The Contractor will bill NRCS directly for all closing costs via IPP. The Contractor will provide a separate billing for Preliminary Title Work (Bill #1), Title Update and ALTA Closing Protection Letter (Bill #2), Closing Services (Bill #3).The Contractor will be paid a flat fee for services rendered which is inclusive of all travel expenses, copy costs, telephone charges, and like charges.

At least 15 business days before closing, the contractor will provide the Program Manager an estimate of the recordation expenses and title insurance premiums for each easement. After closing, the Contractor will request reimbursement for all court recordation expenses and title insurance premiums by providing a separate billing for Recording Fees (Bill #4) and Title Insurance Premiums (Bill #5).

I. AUTHORITY

Only the NRCS Georgia State Office may authorize a modification to this contract.

J. WORK LOCATIONS IN GEORGIA

Work locations can include any of Georgia’s 159 counties.