DU100H14R0002Amend2.ninepages.docx

AMENDMENT #0002 – DU100H-14-R-0002

QUESTION AND ANSWERS (Q&A) FOR - Business Service Provider (BSP) for Single-Family Asset Management.

1. Are bidders expected to bid on each Task separately or can a bid on one task include other tasks ? For example , could Task Two - Asset Management System include Task Nine - Information Security. Bidders are expected to bid on each line item as reflected in the solicitation unless otherwise amended to reflect that change.

1. Will bids with zero amounts for some Tasks (because they that are included in other tasks) be considered ? Zero amounts will not be acceptable. Offerors should submit a price for each CLIN.

1. Are there Tasks where a zero amount bid would be unacceptable ? No.

1. Can bidders modify Task One - Transition to be shorter or longer ? Offerors can propose a shorter or longer Transition Schedule.

1. Are there provisions for extending the Transition In/Start Up period (or for issuing Change Orders) if new or undisclosed business requirements come up during the Transition In/Start Up period ? Changes to the Transition Schedule that is included in the contract award will be negotiated by the Contracting Officer.

1. Are there provisions for Change Orders when HUD changes their business practices/processes or are all modifications for future changes included in the fixed price bid ? For example, if HUD changes their MM contractor structure, are the changes that may be needed to be included in the fixed price contract? All modifications required for future changes within the M&M construct that relate to activities required under this PWS or the role of the vendor’s provided method in Single Family Disposition Process, are to be included in the fixed price bid. For other changes required that are determined to not fall into the aforementioned categories, the contractors should identify any changed requirements and submit a request for contract modification to the Contracting Officer.

1. Are there projected activity levels for Task Four - Audit Support? HUD Housing’s REO division, does not have control over how and when audits are performed and therefore cannot accurately project the amount of audit support that will be required. Required assistance from the vendor in performing this support is described in Section 5.2.4 of the PWS.

1. Page 73 - "The Offerors will receive at least 3 days advance notice of when they are to provide their demonstration. All demonstrations will be performed at HUD."

Is there a target date range for when the three day notice to perform a demo at HUD Headquarters would be issued ? Not at this time.

Would it be possible to get more notice to enable bidders who are not in the DC area to make travel plans? More time will be allotted where it is determined necessary. Notice it says “at least 3 days”, not “at most 3 days”.

1. In the Source Sought Notice Number: BSP-2013-001 posted November 25, 2013, on the first page - "2. Any vendor who is currently working on any MM III contract (e.g., OM, AM, FSM, or MCM, etc.) shall be considered as having potential organization conflict of interest and therefore will not be considered."

Is any vendor that is affiliated with a current MM III contractor considered to have a conflict of interest for this solicitation? Not necessarily. Potential conflict of interests for vendors affiliated with M&M contractors will need to be evaluated by the Contracting Officer on an individual basis.

1. Will the cost of time it will take HUD personnel to manage, test and roll out a new system be a factor in the selection? No.

1. Will the costs of transitioning the MM III contractors to a new system be a factor in the selection process? No.

1. Page 37 section - 5.2.2.7.4 Sales Contract "The Contractor shall provide a method which has the ability to create, save, edit and pre-populate Sales Contracts, Addendums and other related forms for the broker that submits a winning offer."

Is there a standardized national sales contract or will there be different sales contracts by state and/or asset manager? There is a standardized national sales contract that is provided by HUD; however the contractor’s method should be able to provide additional sales documentation, addendums, and forms to meet jurisdictional requirements where appropriate.

1. Page 41 section - 5.2.2.8.3 Electronic Signatures Which documents is HUD expecting to have electronic signatures? What is the estimated number of signatures HUD is expected to have certified on a yearly basis? Electronic signatures shall be available for the HUD REO Sales Contract and sales related addenda. However, HUD may determine it is necessary to include electronic signatures for other documents used throughout the Single Family Disposition Process including but not limited to transmittals and Broker NAID applications. HUD cannot accurately project the estimated number signatures to be certified on an annual basis due to the volatility of the REO environment.

1. Page 36 section - 5.2.2.7.2 Valuations "The Contractor shall provide a method to collect, display, and track multiple types of valuation records for each property such as Appraisals, Broker Price Opinions (BPO) and Automated Valuation Model (AVM) or Automated Valuation Model with comparables."

Is it required that the vendor will be obtaining AVM appraisals or merely store AVM appraisal data ? If the vendor is expected to obtain the AVM appraisals, how many AVMs would be needed per year and are there any business rules as to how they are obtained? The Contractor is not expected to calculate AVM appraisals. The contractor’s method should provide the ability to retain the resulting product of an AVM (i.e. pdf, excel, word document, data exchange) in the case file, and store key data components in a system field as determined by HUD. The contractor, as part of their Technical Approach, shall identify how they intend to meet this requirement. HUD cannot accurately project the estimated number of AVMs on an annual basis due to the volatility of the REO environment.

1. Page 37 - section 5.2.2.7.3 Marketing/Sales Methods "Broker Certification – The Contractor shall provide a method to manage the NAID process according to HUD SFAM and Financial Division Guidelines. Additional information regarding the NAID process is found in HUD Handbook 4310.5 REV-2, Chapter 16."

Will this NAID process impact the interface with the SAMS system ? If so, can the changes needed be provided or will they be disclosed during the Transition In/Start Up period? SAMS is the system of record for the NAID process. Therefore, it is possible that future changes to the NAID process can impact and interfere with SAMS. The NAID process is owned by another division of HUD. At this time we are not aware of any changes to the NAID process that division may have planned.

1. Page 48 - section 5.2.3.1 - Interface Control Document Will the contractor be responsible for updating the Interface Control Document with just the changes the bidding vendor makes or would the bidder also be responsible for documenting the changes to the interfacing system ? The ICD is maintained jointly by the two vendors responsible for the systems being interfaced.

1. Page 51 section - 5.2.3.5 Data Exchange - Other Data Requirements Is the vendor responsible for any new interfaces that are required in future? If so and the new interfaces require new or enhanced screens or processes - would that be included in the contract or would change orders be issued for the new functionality? The vendor will be responsible for any new interfaces, if required in the future. If the new interfaces require new or enhanced screens or processes, this is a component of CLIN003 and also covered under the PWS requirement 5.2.3 and 5.2.10; therefore included under the contract.

1. Page 50 section 5.2.3.3 Data Exchange – External Services "Pay.Gov - HUD has an intergovernmental relationship with an online electronic financial service for federal agencies. All payment information for earnest money deposits and time extension requests for properties under contract will be provided to this service. The Contractor’s provided method shall receive this information from real estate brokers and other purchasers submitting bids on HUD REO properties, and provide the information to pay.gov. Pay.gov will process the information and collect the funds from the purchaser’s account then transfer the funds to SAMS."

Are there interface specifications for the Pay.gov interface or will they be provided as part of the Transition In/Start Up period ? The Pay.gov schema can be provided during the transition-in period.

1. Will the Pay,gov implementation require changes to the SAMS interface ? If so, are those specs available or will they be provided during Transition In/Start Up period ? The implementation of Pay.gov may require changes to the SAMS interface. The implementation of Pay.gov is currently on hold due to budget constraints. Once the budgetary constraints are resolved, we anticipate moving forward with the implementation of Pay.gov. Any required changes to the SAMS interface will be provided at that time.

1. Page 55 section 5.2.10 TASK TEN - DATA-FIXES AND ENHANCEMENTS "The Contractor shall also review and analyze system enhancement requests submitted by the GTR/GTM to determine the level of effort to implement the requested enhancement. The Contractor shall implement the requested data fixes or enhancements upon approval of the GTR/GTM. Data fixes or enhancements are authorized by the GTR/GTM only."

Is bidder expected to implement unlimited enhancements in the fixed price contract without change orders? Yes, and in accordance to the timeframe and specifications identified in the plan provided by the Contractor and agreed to by the GTR/GTM as outlined in 5.2.10.

1. Will the C&A docs and the SSAE-16 need to be completed prior to go live? Yes.

1. Will HUD consider changing their process and workflow to match the bidder's processes and workflows? The Contractor shall suggest beneficial changes to HUD’s process and workflow that are the result of the bidder’s current processes and approach in the Operations Performance Plan of their Technical Approach documentation.

1. Will any type of security clearances be required for personnel working on the project? All contractor personnel that will be working on this project will be subjected to HUD’s Personnel Identity Verification (PIV) and Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (EQIP) process.

1. Will the system be required to interface with the HUD Siteminder System ? If so, will single sign on protocols be required? Sign on protocols must be in accordance with HUD’s IT security requirements. Currently, users outside of the HUD network need to use Siteminder for authentication.

Additional Questions

1. Typically systems such as this have detailed business rules.

Are there well defined rules for the creation and approval of things like transmittals, work orders, step promotion and external system interface files (SAMS and Data Warehouse)?

If so, can HUD provide these rules or will they be disclosed during the Transition In/Start Up period? The Contractor shall identify how their method will perform the requirements under this PWS in their Technical Approach documentation. Current Interface Control Documents for the existing interfaces can be found at attachment 24 (SAMS) and Attachment 30 (SFHEDW). The rules for transmittal processing are addressed within HUD Financial Control Manual (Attachment 7)

1. Are all required reports included in the solicitation or will there be other required reports disclosed during the Transition In/Start Up period? Please refer to section 5.2.5 of the PWS for HUD’s reporting requirements. New reports may need to be developed to support HUD business operations when necessary.

1. Will the ACA and Nonprofit modules need to track purchase and development costs per property? If so, are they tracked by account and/or category? Yes. The contractor, in their technical approach documentation, shall identify how ACA and Nonprofit cases can be tracked.

1. Are bids required for Travel Costs, SSAE-16 and Certification and Accreditation or will HUD be reimbursing for allowable vendor expenses? Bid are expected and it is my belief that HUD will be reimbursing for allowable expenses.

1. Page 37 - 5.2.2.7.3 Marketing/Sales Methods "The Contractor shall provide a method for counter-offers, back-up offers and cancellation of bids from selling brokers."

Will HUD provide business rules for these methods or is it up to the vendor to determine the processes? The contractor, in their technical approach documentation, shall identify how their proposed method can provide for this requirement. Additional information pertaining to counter-offers, back-up offers, and cancellation of bids can be found within 24 CFR Section 291.

1. Page 52 - 5.2.5.2 Performance Reporting and Asset Allocation "Contractor Scorecards and Scoring Methodology – Utilizing metrics provided by HUD, the Contractor shall provide a scoring method for reporting the monthly performance of the AM, FSM, and MCM."

Can HUD provide the business rules for scorecard metrics? The contractor, in their technical approach documentation, shall identify how their proposed method can provide for this requirement.

1. Page 56 - 5.2.11 TASK ELEVEN - FHA TRANSFORMATION MIGRATION (Optional) Are bidders required to submit proposals for FHA Transformation or is this something that will be formalized in the future? If it is determined to incorporate the roles and/or responsibilities of the service provider into the FHA Transformation; HUD will require the awarded vendor to submit a proposal at that time. Vendors can submit bids in response to this although the CLIN is optional at this time.

1. Page 55 - 5.2.10 Task Ten - Data Fixes and Enhancement This task has a the comment "NTE $900,000 associated" with it on SF 1449(3_2005).pdf.

Should Task Ten be bid as a fixed price or a time and materials? This should be Firm Fixed Price. OSFAM will not agree to Time and Materials.

1. Document SF 1449(3_2005).pdf does not include a Task Four: Audit Support for Year two - is this an oversight? This was an oversight. Amendment #0001, was executed to include Task Four.

1. Will HUD allow for questions regarding the Product Demonstration Script after the deadline for RFP questions? Yes. Any questions should be directed to the Contracting Officer/Contract Specialist.

1. Page 70 – Technical Approach

Could you provide an explanation and example of what would be required for the columns titled “RFP Requirement”, “PWS”, “Section L or Instructions to Offerors” and “Section M or Evaluation Factors sections”?

Example of “RFP Requirement” – “Audit Support Requirements” Example of PWS – “5.2.4” Example of “Section L or Instructions to Offerors” – If there are questions to respond to in this Section, it would be similar, but Section L are Instructions to Offerors . Although, the Offeror’s proposal can reflect that the Offeror responded to each Instruction FACTOR as: Example of Proposal Page – xxx; “RFP Requirement” – Technical Approach; Example of PWS – In response to page 70, Instruction to FACTOR 1 Example of Section M Factors – Soliciation references the FACTORs that Offerors are to respond to: Proposal Page: 75; RFP Requirement: FACTOR 1 (the offeror effectively describes efficient procedures and strategic advantages of their proposed method) ; PWS (State where in the PWS this is located); Section M/Evaluation Factors– Technical Approach

1. Page 48 – Data Exchange – Internal Is it the full responsibility of the awardee to identify data sync discrepancies and perform corrective actions for all data sync discrepancies - including the items where SAMS is considered the originating system? It is the responsibility of the awardee to identify data sync discrepancies and recommend solutions (if applicable) regardless of fault as identified in 5.2.3.2. The Contractor shall take any and all corrective actions to ensure data is correct in their provided method. HUD will work with the contractor to remedy data discrepancies that are determined by HUD to be the fault of other entities; in these scenarios the contractor will not be responsible for any penalties as the result.

Provided by CoreLogic

Part 3, Section C-5: 5.2.1 Please clarify whether implementation of a new COTS product during the Transition Phase also includes migration of all active/archived data from the legacy COTS application. Yes, it includes the migration of data.

Part 3, Section C-5: 5.2.3 Please clarify whether the contractor system (1) provides a data exchange capability, providing a web interface to data which is resident within the SAMS system of record, or (2) the contractor is also responsible for the storing and maintenance of all data element records, to include maintaining and archiving of both open and closed property records. The vendor’s method is required to sync with other systems to receive, distribute, store, archive, and manage data where appropriate. This includes data for both open and closed property records.

Part 4, Section 3 Factor 6 (Socio-Economic Considerations) cites a HUD goal of 55% for small business participation. However, NOTE 3 to the Socio-Economic Evaluation Factor states that an offer to a large business proposing to subcontract more than 50% of the contract would be considered unacceptable/very high risk. Please clarify the manner in which this evaluation factor would be applied to large, unrestricted prime bidders. While the Socio-Economic Consideration will be an evaluation factor for this procurement, HUD will make an award for this procurement based on an equal assessment of each contractor against all factors.

A Request for a Small Business Participation Plan is NOT the Same as a Request for a Subcontracting Plan.

FAR Part 19.7, All large business Government prime contractor (also referred to as other than small business concerns), that receives a contracts that may exceed $650,000 ($1,500,000 for construction) must submit and comply with an acceptable subcontracting plan. Each Plan should provide “maximum practicable opportunity” for small businesses to participate in contract performance. Small businesses are excluded from submitting a subcontracting plan.

HUD’s current subcontracting goal is 55% for Small Business (hereafter referred to as SB), 5% for Small Disadvantaged Business, including 8(a) Program Participants, Alaska Native Corporations (ANC) and Indian Tribes (hereafter referred to as SDB), 5% for Women-Owned Small Business and Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business (hereafter referred to as WOSB), 3% HubZone business (hereafter referred to as HUBZone), 3.00% Veteran Owned Small Business (hereafter referred to as VOSB) and 3% Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (hereafter referred to as SDVOSB) concerns for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. For this procurement, HUD expects all proposed subcontracting plans to contain at a minimum the aforementioned percentages.

Example of Subcontracting Plan Goals vs. SB Participation Plan Goals Subcontracting Goal = 55% of the Subcontracted Dollars –SBs get 55% of the dollars ‘available’ for subcontracting. If a LB decides to subcontract $100,000 of a $1M contract, SBs will get 55% of the $100,000 available for subcontracting. SBs get 55% of only planned subcontracted dollars = $55,000 SB Participation Goal = 50% of Total Contract Value –SBs get 50% of the total value of the entire contract. If a LB offers 50% SB participation of a $1M contract, SBs will get 50% of total contract value = $500,000 Provided by HP Would HUD accept pricing in "banded" volumes of 20,000 assets so that vendor could provide pricing that more accurately reflects the level of effort required? Yes Will all documents be provided in an industry standard format by the incumbent for transition and ingestion into the new system, i.e. Filenet, Adobe, etc.? Yes.

For the demo there are specific items that require business rules to identify the properties in question. For example: "Ability to automatically identify target property specifics and special case identifiers for improved vendor assignment and special purchasing programs". Where do we find the rules that allow us to implement the check to identify and categorize these properties? Will HUD please provide these business rules? The vendor shall demonstrate the capabilities of their provided method to identify specific property attributes for improved targeting for specialized programs and vendor selection. No business rules are required to successfully perform this scenario. Please refer to PWS section 5.2.2.7 and 24 CFR Section 291 for additional information regarding special purchasing programs.

How soon after RFP close date is demo expected to be held? This information is unknown.

Will internet access be provided for demo? Yes.

Is the demo fixed at one hour for everyone? Is there Q&A also in the hour or in addition to the hour? Question and Answer from HUD will not be included in the hour.

If demo is one hour only then will need to move quickly through the system without questions - is this the intent? Yes.

Could you confirm that this proposal is based on a subcontracted value of 55%? While the Socio-Economic Consideration will be an evaluation factor for this procurement, HUD will make an award for this procurement based on an equal assessment of each contractor against all factors. The HUD goal is 55%.

Is there a page limit on the socio-economic participation for Vol 1? No. Also, could you confirm the location in our response of the socioeconomic participation and the subcontracting plan? The socioeconomic participation and subcontracting plan are listed as attachments.

Are the Tables of Contents, Cover Letter, and Proposal Matrix excluded from the 80 page limit for Vol. I - Management and Technical Approach. No.

Will HUD please provide the location of the pricing sheets? The pricing sheet are pages 2 thru 6 (PART 2 - Supplies or Services) of Solicitation #DU100H-14-R-0002. The Vendor(s) are expecting to submit a pricing proposal reflecting their cost as broken down per CLIN on page(s) 2 thru 6.

Would HUD please specify how the quantity of assets/properties is determined i.e. when a property is foreclosed on, pre-conveyed properties. The quantity of assets/properties for the purpose of contractor payment is determined by the amount of properties acquired, image3.png image1.jpeg image2.jpeg