Round_2_12-3-14_(final).pdf

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Washington, D.C. 20410

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER

Reference: Questions in response to Solicitation Number DU100R-14-R-0004 HECM Business Services Provider Service

SECOND ROUND OF Q&A.

To: Prospective Offerors

The following questions and answers addressed below are hereby incorporated into this solicitation:

THE CLOSING DATE OF THIS SOLICITAITON IS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9,

2014 AT 2:00 p.m. E.S.T.

Q84. Is the Mitigation Plan (Section L.10, page 84) included in the Technical Plan or can it be an attachment (not included in the page count)?

R84. The Mitigation Plan may be included as an attachment. See Amendment 1.

Q85. On page 36 and in the Table on page 99, a Transition Plan is mentioned. It does not list this in Section L.

a. Where does the Transition Plan go?

b. Does it count towards the page limit of the Technical Plan?

R85. See R18 See Amendment 1

Q86. On page 47 of Attachment A, it states: “The Contractor shall make best use of business process and business requirements models and make recommendations regarding implementation of models to HECM operations?” Please provide more specifics about what HUD is looking for.

R86. The Office of Evaluation uses HECM data for budgetary, business, and statistical modeling. While the Contractor will not be required to provide modeling as part of its Business Service Solution, the Contractor may offer suggestions to the Government regarding potential improvements in how HECM data is used.

Q87. With regards to reconciliation, under what authority can the vendor make changes to any data field?

R87. Depending on the nature of the change, the vendor would get approval from the respective GTM prior to making any changes. If the change requires a contract modification, then it must be approved and executed by the Contracting Officer.

Q88. HUD asks for key requirements in its Program and Project Manager to demonstrate sufficient relevant prior experience, qualifications, education and certification. The combination of experience and certifications that are fairly unique and reduce competition. These include the combination of PMP or PgMP, SaaS/ITaaS, provision of services to the federal government, and technical knowledge FHA HECM regulations in one person.

a. Will HUD consider years of experience in managing projects of similar scope as equivalent to a PMP or Certified PgMP and an equivalent alternative?

b. Will HUD consider HECM subject matter experts who will work closely with the project management an equivalent alternative?

R88. See R168 and R23

Q89. P. 85 of Attachment A states:

“The MP shall include a detailed work flow chart reflecting the process steps the HECM- Endorsed Loans and/or HECM-Assigned Notes would follow which clearly reflect the Contractor’s strategy for 1) timely completion; 2) how work deadlines will be met including how adjustments in staffing and workload will be made when there are fluctuating demands by FHA-Approved HECM lenders, servicers, and investors, HUD users, and HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor. THE MP will also address training and Help Desk operations.”

This contrasts with instructions on P. 86 in Section L “Management Plan” where there is not a request that a work flow be included. Please clarify what should be included in the Management Plan submitted in the proposal. If a work flow is required, does this count against the 10-page limit?

R89. See Section L12 and M4 See Amendment 1

Q90. On the “Base Period” Tab of Attachment B, should we change the quantity for CLIN 0001 for a transition period of other than 9 months?

R90. No. See R4.

Q91. On the “Option Year 4” Tab of Attachment B, should we exclude Clin 4006 from the total Price calculation since it is an optional item or should we not use Clin 4006 since the price to purchase the system/source code is separately listed under Clin 5006 on the “Optional Line Item” tab?

R91. See Amendment 1 and Amended Attachment B Pricing Sheet

Q92. As Tasks 18, 19, & 20 are not part of the scope of work for this solicitation, is there still a requirement to include a mitigation plan in accordance with L.10, p. 84 of the pre-RFP?

If yes, is it excluded from the page count?

R92. All Tasks 1-20 are the scope of the contract; Tasks 1, 3,4,5,11,14 and 16 will be evaluated under Factor 1-Technical Understanding/Approach Amendment 1 of the solicitation also See R84

Q93. Are the proposal matrix, letters of commitment, and project schedule excluded from page count?

R93. Yes except for the project schedule. The project schedule is included in Factor 1

Technical Understanding/Approach, however if the project schedule is a chart, then it will not be included in the page limitation. See Section L12 of the RFP.

Q94. How many participants does HUD expect at each training session?

R94. 25 participants.

Q95. Is phone the only communication channel that the Customer Service Representatives

(CSR) will use? Or will there e-mail, web chat, written correspondence or in-person?

R95. The contractor may propose any and all types of communication channels.

Q96. Does HUD require the HECM support contract to provide logistical support for the training sessions or will these requirements be handled through a separate contract vehicle?

R96. The Contractor shall provide logistic support for all training sessions not held in Government-owned or leased facilities. The Contractor shall work with the GTMs to arrange the onsite training.

Q97. Can HUD clarify the purpose of the training sessions? Will the training sessions include instruction to the CSR (Help Desk), or is the scope confined to the HECM systems and

HECM business services?

R97. IAW PWS 5.2.15, Task Fifteen – Training, he Contractor shall develop and provide classroom training for users that provide instruction on how to use its business services solution to handle the operations identified in the PWS. The Contractor is expected to train its Help Desk staff independently. IAW PWS 5.2.14, Task

Fourteen – Help Desk, the Help Desk services are to address operational and technical issues related to delivery, implementation, operation, servicing, and validation of the HECM portfolio and to provide automated reconciliation support of all loan balances and posted transactions between its HECM business services, HUD, and FHA’s business partners (HUD Loan Servicing Contractor; FHA-approved HECM originators, servicers, and investors; HBMS issuers, GNMA and GSEs).

Q98. Please describe the training facilities? Are there any constraints or limitations to be aware of?

R98. See R96.

Q99. Does the training need to comply with Section 508 requirements?

R99. Yes.

Q100. The RFP refers to “monthly webinars” – this means synchronous, distance learning with a facilitator/instructor. Would HUD also be open to doing asynchronous ELearning?

R100. Yes. The Contractor may propose asynchronous eLearning in addition to providing monthly webinars.

Q101. Are there any collaborative learning tools, social media or other informal learning platforms already in use?

R101. No.

Q102. In addition to the training plans, training materials and delivery of the sessions themselves are there any other deliverables expected as part of Task 14 (e.g., reports on instructor performance?

R102. The Contractor shall provide a training plan and training materials IAW PWS

5.2.15 and shall provide logistic support for all training sessions not held in

Government-owned or leased facilities. The Contractor is required to conduct quarterly User Satisfaction Surveys and the quality of the training related to its

HECM Business Service Solution will be addressed.

Q103. Does HUD anticipate a tiered structure with escalation processes to handle specialized or more complex calls to the Help Desk?

R103. Yes, the Government anticipates a tiered Help Desk resolution process in order to address questions regarding the Contractor HECM Business Service Solution. See R97.

Q104. Is there an existing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system?

R104. Information is not available.

Q105. What percentage of calls will need to be recorded?

R105. 100%.

Q106. Does HUD envision as part of this procurement that the Help Desk will collect, maintain, update information on individual callers?

R106. Yes.

Q107. It’s stated that the system offered must be “Business Service via web based”, does that mean the system must be accessible through a web browser or any type of applications that communicates via web.

R107. The Government’s requirement is for a web-based solution where the HECM solution is accessed and run on a web browser since web-enabled technology would require some processing on an individual user’s computer prior to uploading the output to the web. The Contractor should propose as part of its Business Service Solution how it plans to deliver the requirements stated in the PWS.

Q108. When transitioning in, in what format the data (loan servicing, claims and General ledger systems) will be provided by the current contractor?

R108. The Government will facilitate meetings between the incumbent and the Contractor to discuss the criteria and format for transitioning data from HERMIT to the

Contractor’s HECM Business Services Solution.

Q109. Is the Data migration from the current system to the new system required to be done by the end of 60 days after contract award or before the parallel testing starts?

R109. Data migration should be completed prior to parallel testing.

Q110. What are the acceptable data formats the contractor could use to provide data when transitioning out?

R110. The Contractor shall ensure as part of its Transition-Out responsibility that the data shall be transferred to the successor with no loss of information, data, or functional capability, in a machine readable format.

Q111. Regarding Independent verification and validation. It’s stated that the contractor shall remediate all IV&V corrective Action Plan within 30 days. Will the 30 days be after each monthly IV&V status report?

R111. The Contractor shall remediate all deficiencies and exceptions documented in the monthly IV&V Corrective Action Plans within 30 business days from receipt.

Q112. Can public Cloud services such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure that are Fed Ramp

Certified be used for hosting the solution?

R112. The Contractor may propose whatever hosting environment that meets the requirements.

Q113. Does HUD have estimate of how many concurrent users will be accessing the system.

R113. 3,000.

Q114. What are the evaluation criteria and any associated ranking that will be used to evaluate the systems offered?

R114. The Contractor’s proposal will be evaluated according to Section L and M of the solicitation. Evaluation Factors for Award Amendment 1 remove the Optional Line

Item CLIN 5006.

Q115. Is there a preferred database management system backend such as Oracle and Microsoft

SQL for the COTS system?

R115. See R112.

Q116. Please provide a list of travel requirements such as locations and frequency so offerors can appropriately estimate travel costs.

R116. IAW PWS 5.2.15, he Contractor shall provide at least 25 training sessions for HECM servicers and lenders at locations convenient to the servicers and lenders.

See Amendment 1 or the PWS, The following 19 required sessions and Contractor’s discretion – with HUD approval – for the remaining 6 training sessions:

- A total of eight sessions in four different geographically locations within the Continental United States: North, East, South, and West. These sessions should be held at locations convenient to the servicers and lenders in each of these regions.

- A minimum of two classroom sessions for the staff at each of the four Home

Ownership Centers – Philadelphia, Atlanta, Denver, and Santa Ana.

- A minimum of three classroom sessions for the HUD Loan Servicing Contractor and NSC staff at a location convenient to the National Servicing Center.

- A minimum of two training sessions for HECM staff at the Albany Financial

Operations Center.

- A minimum of two training sessions for HUD Headquarters staff in Washington, DC.

- A minimum of two training sessions for the HUD Office of Housing Counseling staff at a location convenient to the National Servicing Center.

After providing the initial 19 required training sessions listed above, the Contractor shall propose an additional 6 training sessions for those groups and/or areas where additional training would be most beneficial. The Contractor shall receive authorization from the Government before starting any of the additional training.

Q117. Is there a requirement to track the versions of the loan documents that are uploaded to the system?

R117. Yes, the Contractor must provide an audit trail and audit tracking of all HECM data.

Q118. Is there a requirement to make the loan documents content searchable through the system.

R118. Yes.

Q119. Can you please estimate the anticipated volume of documents that will be uploaded to the system?

R119. As of May 2014, there are approximately 875,000 active and terminated HECM loans. At a minimum, the Contractor is required to upload all pages of HUD’s Second Note and Mortgage/DOT, legal notices, and the Claim Advice of Payment (AOP) for Endorsed HECM loans and all loan origination, closing, and servicing documents on Assigned HECM loans. The Contractor is to auto-image all letters and/or forms produced from servicing timelines for HECM-Endorsed and HECM- Assigned loans. The Government estimates 250 pages per HECM loan.

Q120. What is the timeframe for the contractor to demonstrate its operational readiness to commence full performance of the Web-based HECM Business Services?

R120. See PWS, 5.2.4. The Contractor shall begin parallel testing no later than 6 months after contract award and shall continue parallel testing for at least 2 months. During the parallel testing, the Contactor shall demonstrate operational readiness with all tasks and requirements of the PWS.

Q121. Section L.11.d indicates charts are excluded from page count. Will the Government please confirm if the Project Schedule chart that is required for the Technical Approach is excluded from page count?

R121. See R93 See Section L12 of the RFP.

Q122. Page 81, L.3, #3 states that the offeror shall provide proof of its small business status under the designated NAICS code for this procurement. Would any documentation provided as "proof" for the offeror's status be considered as attachments outside of page limits? Shall Offerors include this proof in the Price Proposal or Technical Proposal?

R122. The offers shall include proof of small business size standard in an attachment of the technical proposal. See R84.

Q123. Page 83, L.8 requires commitment letters from subcontractors. Would these be treated as attachments outside of the page limit?

R123. Amendment 1 to the solicitation. Letter of commitment are not included in the page limitation.

Q125. Attachment B – Pricing Sheet contains CLIN 5006 Optional Line Item to purchase the system/source code used to perform the contract. Given that the government is procuring a commercial product and service that comprises the intellectual property of third parties and given that the value of the intellectual property can be quite cost prohibitive, would the government consider giving the Offeror the option to license the product directly to the government?

R125. Amendment 1 removes CLIN 5006 Optional Line Item.

Q126. Can the contractor offer more or fewer training courses than those outlined in the

RFP? The appropriate training approach to get users up to speed could vary widely based on the solution offered.

R126. The Contractor must provide at least 25 training sessions (See R116). The

Contractor may offer additional training sessions with approval of the Government.

Q127. Request for clarification. Does the HECM Business service need to prepare and generate releases for the appropriate recording entity OR does the HECM business service need to interface with HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor’s automated “release” system(s)? The 2 requirement below are contradictory.

Page 44 - The Contractor shall deliver a test plan for its HECM business services to interface with HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor’s automated systems and third-party providers (e.g. tax monitoring, releases, bulk imaging and the HUD Loan Servicing Contractor’s banking institution) within 60 days of contract award.

Page 65 - The Contractor shall provide the ability to manage, prepare and generate releases for the appropriate recording entity, and track what each recorder’s office requires in legal documents.

R127. The HECM Business Service Solution needs to interface with HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor’s automated system; to provide the necessary data entry screens for use by the LSC. These online data entry screens will give the LSC the ability to manage, generate, and print required releases and documentation.

Q128. Can the government provide the number of modifications (additional HUD/FHA HECM business rules and functionality) that it has done since adopting HERMIT. Please provide this information broken down by the COTS product, level of complexity?

R128. Information is not available. See Attachment B, Key Changes to the HECM Program.

Q129. If government is taking a favorable position on a technical solution with RMS STROM/HERMIT as part of the technical solution, then can the government break this contract into two; one to secure the HERMIT platform (SaaS) and the other for Business services?

R129. The Government is procuring HECM Business Service Provider as a total solution.

Q130. It looks like whoever wins this contract has to complete all development/testing in 6 months, perform 2 months of parallel run (when both HERMIT and the new Contractor’s SaaS/ITaaS will be operating parallel) and then in the 9th month from contract award – phase out HERMIT when HECM data will no longer go into HERMIT. Can the government confirm this understanding?

R130. The Government anticipates a nine month transition period for the Contractor to demonstrate operational readiness, successfully conduct parallel testing, and begin providing HECM services as outlined in the PWS. See R 120.

Q131. Page 37 - 5.2.1 Task One – Start Up/Transition-In - The Contractor shall establish its physical infrastructure; ensure that a qualified and trained workforce of employees or subcontractors is in place; obtain all licenses, permits, bonds and qualifications required to transact business in the geographic locations within the contract area; Can the government clarify “obtain all licenses, permits, bonds and qualifications required to transact business in the geographic locations within the contract area”?

R131. The Contractor must obtain all applicable state and Federal licenses, permits, bonds (if required), etc. for the area where its business services are located. These may vary depending on the locality.

Q132. 60 days transition and 9 months transition. We understand the following. Can the Government confirm / correct:

a) 60 days – Business services will be transitioned over from incumbent contractor.

However the new team will continue to use HERMIT solution to conduct all regular business.

b) 9 months - Business services will be performed by new contractor staff.

Completion of migration from HERMIT solution to Contractor’s SaaS/ITaaS environment.

R132. At the end of the nine month period, the Contractor must demonstrate operational readiness, have successfully conducted parallel testing, and begin providing HECM services as outlined in the PWS. See R120.

Q133. What jurisdiction does the FHA loan servicing contractor in Oklahoma have over HECM loans vs. the services required in the current solicitation?

HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor is responsible for the full servicing of the HECM- Assigned Notes portfolio from assignment to pay-off or conveyance. Following loan assignment, monthly payments are made by HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor (LSC) to the borrower. HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor is responsible for monitoring the status of tax, hazard and flood insurance payments; certifying annual occupancy; and initiating foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of the loan upon the death or non-compliance of the borrower.

HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor is also responsible for the processing of servicer requests on HECM-Endorsed loans.

The Contractor’s HECM Business Service Solution provides the web-based application to be used by the LSC to perform full servicing of the HECM-Assigned Notes portfolio. These detailed tasks are described in PWS Paragraph 5.2.10, HECM-Assigned Notes Servicing.

Q134. Please provide the functions included in the term “loan servicing” as used in the solicitation.

R134. Loan Servicing requirements are detailed in the PWS IAW PWS 5.2.5, 5.2.6, 5.2.7, 5.2.8, 5.2.9, and 5.2.10 and include:

Recording initial insurance application information from CHUMS along with subsequent updates and changes Recording receipt of the IMIP and provide that information to CHUMS Recording endorsements from CHUMS along with updates and changes to endorsed case information Certifying Occupancy Disbursing Monthly Draws (Scheduled/Unscheduled) Tracking Disbursement of Drawable Equity Monitoring Annual Property Tax and Homeowner’s Insurance Premium

Payments Monitoring Events that could trigger Due and Payable status Initiating Termination of Mortgage Insurance Exercising Assignment Option Certificate of Indebtedness (COI) Consent of Lienholder Due & Payable with HUD approval Extension – Claim filing Extension – Deed in Lieu Extension – Appraisal Extension – Repairs Extension – Request to Delay Foreclosure Investor Short Sales Partial Release Preservation & Protection Request for HUD Advance (Assignment) Substitution of Collateral Subordination Zero Balance Payoff Request Release of Mortgage – Second Mortgage Demand Assignment Foreclosure/Deed-In-Lieu Optional Assignment

Mortgagor’s Sale Supplemental Claim Over-Claimed Amounts Received HECM Claim Payment Notification Post-Claim Reviews Monitoring the status of tax, hazard and flood insurance payments Initiating foreclosure or deed-in-lieu of the loan upon the death or non-compliance of the borrower.

Assignment HUD LSC Servicing Unscheduled Requests for Funds Responses to Correspondence Payment Plan Modification Payoff Requests Insurance Loss Draft Decision Not to Repair Release Approvals Default Servicing for HECM-Assigned Notes Repayment Events Death of Mortgagor Property Charge Issues Repayment Plans for Property Charge Defaults Title Transfer Property Condition Occupancy Property Inspection Custodial Care HUD Counseling Referral Due and Payable Repayment Status Loss Mitigation Options Mortgagor/Family Sale Deed-In-Lieu Short Sale Loss Mitigation – Pre-Foreclosure Foreclosure Recommendation Notice of Intent and Referral to Foreclosure Non-judicial Foreclosures Department of Justice Foreclosures Foreclosure Sales Third-Party Sales Conveyances Repurchases Notice to Vacate

Evictions

Q135. Our cost depends on the intricate details of interfaces with other systems. Could you provide the details, e.g. using web services, xml or batch jobs, of the HERMIT interfaces with CHUMS, Imaging, RECON, FARETS, BANKKO, Ginnie Mae-RFS, SFHEDW, SAMS, FHA-SL and Treasury (pay.gov and SPS).

R135. HERMIT is proprietary. Attachment A (See R33) provides information on HUD’s Interface Requirements at a high level. The Contractor will be able to work with HUD’s Loan Servicing Contractor upon award to obtain details regarding the Imaging, REKON, FARETS, BANKO, and LSC banking interfaces.

Q136. During the Transition-in phase, will the Government provide access to the existing loan processing and accounting software for the incoming contractor to service the loans?

Who will be responsible for the maintenance of the software during the Transition-in phase?

R136. No. The Contractor is expected to refine operational support functions and “ramp up” staff for the HECM BSP; to demonstrate a complete understanding of the detailed tasks identified in the PWS; and to determine how to develop and implement the functional capabilities into its HECM BSP solution. The incumbent Contractor is responsible for the existing HECM Business Services during Transition-In.

Q137. Could you provide software and hardware specifications for the current HERMIT system? What is the technology used for HERMIT?

R137. See R135.

Q138. Will the new contractor have access to the existing loan data? Is data migration part of the scope of this contract?

R138. The Contractor will be provided with HECM loan data from the incumbent prior to parallel testing. The Contractor shall provide a seamless, logical, error-free, and efficient transition from the incumbent’s hybrid COTS systems (HERMIT) to the Contractor’s SaaS/ITaaS environment.

Q139. CLINS 0004, 0005, 0006, 0007, 2004, 3004 and 4004 are for training related services.

However, Task 15-Training is not included in the list of tasks to which bidders are to respond. Please advise whether or not training is to be included in this contract.

R139. Yes, PWS 5.2.15, training is requirement of contract; See R116.

Q140. CLIN 0001 provides 9 months to “deliver via web-based business services to manage HECM Portfolio” while Task 3 states that the “Contractor shall begin testing and validation of the web-based HECM Business Services . . . within 61 days of contract award.” (PWS page 39) and that the “Contractor shall deliver HECM business services that interface with the FHA Connection, its source systems, and other HUD/FHA and Federal IT systems . . . within 60 days of contract award” (PWS page 41). Please clarify the timeframe within which the Contractor is to deliver the web-based services.

R140. At the end of the nine month period, the Contractor must demonstrate operational readiness, successfully conduct parallel testing, and begin providing HECM services as outlined in the PWS. The Government anticipates a nine month period for the Contractor to refine operational support functions and “ramp up” staff for the HECM BSP; to demonstrate a complete understanding of the detailed tasks identified in the PWS; to determine how to develop and implement the functional capabilities into its HECM BSP solution; and to deliver HECM services. See R120.

Q141. Section L requires a Mitigation Plan in accordance with PWS paragraphs 5.3.18, 5.2.19 and 5.2.2. However those PWS paragraphs are not included in the list of tasks to which we are responding. Please confirm whether or not a Mitigation Plan is required.

R141. Yes, a Mitigation Plan must be submitted with an offeror’s proposal as an attachment. See R84

Q142. Please advise if the Executive Summary is to be included in the page limitations for the Technical Proposal.

R142. No, the Executive Summary is not included in the page limitations for the Technical Proposal.

Q143. The RFP states that past performance surveys should be submitted directly to the HUD Contracting Officer while Section L.11 (page 85) states that questionnaires will be excluded from page limitations. Please confirm whether the surveys should be submitted directly to HUD or together with the bidder’s proposal.

R143. See Section L12 Factor 4 Past Performance. The past performance survey shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer at brenda.k.lee@hud.gov and not with the proposal. See Amendment 1.

Q144. The PWS states that HUD has unlimited rights to all enhancements made to the current software. Could you please provide details of these enhancements? Does HUD own the current software?

R144. Enhancements were made to incorporate changes to the HECM program per Mortgagee Letters. Since the Government does not own the current application, the specific programming details of these enhancements are not available.

mailto:brenda.k.lee@hud.gov

Q145. Of the 2,600 authorized users, how many are internal HUD users and how many are external users?

R145. There are 150 internal users and 2,450 external users.

Q146. Section 1.7 requires a Transition-In Plan to be included with the proposal submission.

Since Task 1-Start Up/Transition in is not to be included in the response, please advise if a Transition-In Plan is required. If it is, will it be excluded from the page limitations?

R146. Amendment 1 will add Task One – Start Up/Transition-In as part of Factor 1 Technical Understanding/Approach and will be included in the page count. The transition plan shall be evaluated as a part of Factor 1. See R18

Q147. The RFP states that the contractor shall provide an independent audit contractor and an Independent Verification & Validation Contractor. Since Task 2 and Task 19 are not included in the proposal response, please advise if this is still a requirement.

R147. Yes, See R92

Q148. Section L.11.d indicates charts are excluded from page count. Will the Government please confirm if the Project Schedule chart that is required for the Technical Approach is excluded from page count?

R148. See R93.

Q149. HUD makes reference to two COTS products as the basis of the HERMITS application;

please provide a listing of those products with version & release.

R149. Since the HERMIT application is proprietary, the Government is unable to provide this information.

Q150. Please provide a complete listing of subsystem interfaces referenced in RFP

R150. The Contractor shall deliver HECM business services that interface with the FHA Connection (F17C), its source systems, and other HUD/FHA and Federal IT systems. These systems include but are not limited to:

Computerized Homes Underwriting Management System (CHUMS) Single Family Insurance System (SFIS) Single Family Premiums Collection Subsystem – Upfront (SFPCS-U) Single Family Premiums Collection Subsystem – Periodic (SFPCS-P) Single Family Claims Subsystem (SFCS) Single Family Acquired Assets Management System (SAMS) FHA Subsidiary Ledger System (FHA-SL) Single Family Data Warehouse (SFDW)

PAY.GOV

IBM Mainframe’s Distributed Enterprise Print Controller (DEPCON)

FNMA

FHA-approved HECM servicers, lenders, investors HUD’s National Servicing Center Loan Servicing Contractor GNMA and other Government-Sponsored Entities HUD-approved contractors and third-party providers Other HUD financial and non-financial IT systems and external Federal systems Treasury

Q151. What sort of IA requirements does HUD have?

R151. The Government expects the Contractor to provide Quality Assurance, Information Assurance, and System Security requirements outlined in the PWS IAW 5.2.2, 5.2.3, 5.2.5, 5.2.9, and 5.2.16. The IV&V, Independent Audit, Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan, and Quarterly Performance survey are a few of the measures that will assist the Government in determining the degree of Contractor compliance with the requirements stipulated in the PWS.

Q152. Will HERMITS be provided to the new contractor? If not, please describe which systems/software will be transitioned to the new contractor?

R152. No. There will be no software or system transitioned to the contractor.

Q153. Are the base systems for this requirement (COTS product) - user base or term license?

R153. Since the HERMIT application is proprietary, the Government is unable to provide this information. See R149.

Q154. Is the HERMIT application scalable to HUD's reverse mortgage projected growth of the next two years?

R154. No. Since the HERMIT application is proprietary, the Government is unable to provide this information. See R149 and R153

Q155. Does the service desk requirement entail leveraging an existing service desk capability within the HUD environment?

R155. No

Q156. Could HUD provide us with existing high level configuration schematics of HECM interfaces?

R156. See R33.

Q157. What is the intent of the 9-month transition period?

R157. See R140.

Q158. Please clarify your expectations for transitioning-in after 61 days? After 9 months?

R158. See R120, R130, R132, R136, and R140.

Q159. On page 94, Task 5.2.20 Transition-Out, you indicate that the “Contractor shall have sufficient personnel on board, during the 90 day Transition-Out period.” Please clarify whether the incumbent contractor will continue operations throughout the 9 month transition period or will the incumbent contractor complete their services after 90 days.

R159. Task 5.2.20, Transition-Out, explains the detailed task requirements for the successful Contractor’s HECM Business Services to be transitioned to a successor contractor or the Government.

The nine month period covering Transition-In and related requirements under Tasks 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.3, and 5.2.4 are near-term events to be performed by the successful Contractor. The incumbent contractor will continue to provide HECM insurance services through parallel testing. At the end of parallel testing, the incumbent contractor will no longer provide HECM-related services.

Q160. Can the contractor propose a new transition timeframe other than the time periods specified in the RFP?

R160. See R4.

Q161. Bidders are required to submit pricing for CLIN 0002, 1002, etc. for Maintain HECM Business Services. Please specify which performance work statement tasks should be included in this CLIN for pricing.

R161. Amendment 1 Attachment B Pricing Sheet shall be price as a fixed price in accordance to the Pricing Sheet. Tasks that are to be evaluated are described in Task 1 Section L and M of the solicitation.

Q162. Our understanding is that if a bidder is a joint venture, the past performance of each of the partners conveys to the joint venture. Would you please confirm and advise if five past performance references should be submitted for each partner or if five past performance References total for the joint venture as a whole will suffice.

R162.

Thee shall be no more than five past performance total references for subcontractor or any joint venture.

Q163. Can the project schedule be a chart and therefore not be in the 15 page Technical Plan limit?

R163. Yes, See R21.

Q164. Will HUD provide a list of interfaces required and the technical specification for propose Interfaces?

R164. See R33. There are no technical specifications.

Q165 Can you please provide the PPT slide from today conference?

R165. The Power Point Slide and link to the webcast preproposal conference is posted Under Solicitation Number DU100R-14-R-0004 on the fedbitzopps website.

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list

Q166 Will HUD provide the Data Dictionary and internal data elements so we can determine the match with our systems.

R166 Since the HERMIT application is proprietary, the Government is unable to provide this information. See R149, R153, and R154.

Q167 With such a high visibility complex program, why is this set aside for small business with a size standard of 19M? Want the award constrictive a large dollar value to a small business making the contract material to the sustainment of the small business.

R167 Market Research determined small businesses were capable of performing the work.

Q168 For Key Personnel requirements, are there equivalency tradeoffs? Example instead of PMP Certified, an extra 5 years of PM experience.

R168 No. See R23

Q169 Why does the government believe that a 9 month transition is adequate for anybody but the incumbent?

R169 The Government anticipates a 9 month transition period by seeking offerors who are qualified under NAICS code 522390, Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation, which includes loan servicing. See R120, R130, R132, R136, and R140.

Q170 Can vendors still bid if they did not submit intent to bid by the deadline?

R170 Yes

Q171 Communication acumen, values etc., are very important. Please ask for Oral Presentation so that you may assess how well contractors display these traits.

R171Amendment 1 of the solicitation will provide when oral presentation will be https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list performed.

Q172 If this is not an IT requirement why do you need an application developer and a Senior FISCAM Analyst?

R172 The PWS includes a requirement to implement HECM legislative changes within 30 business days of notification from the Government (See Paragraph 5.2.3). The Government anticipates that the Business Service Provider will need an Application Developer to address these changes to the Contractor’s SaaS/ITaaS solution. The Contractor shall abide by all applicable regulations, publications, manuals, and policies, and procedures in the performance of this contract and any subsequent revisions, updates, and/or changes IAW PWS Paragraph 2.3. This includes the annual requirement for a SSAE 16 audit (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization, and compliance with the Federal Information Systems Controls Audit Manual (Government Accountability Office) and NIST Special Publication (800 series).

Q173 You mentioned IV & V and independent auditor. What area are you talking about and who is the independent auditor?

R173 These are two separate requirements – one is for the Contractor to engage an independent third party contractor to conduct an independent assessment of the Contractor’s business services (IV&V) IAW PWS Paragraph 5.2.2 and the other for the Contractor to engage an independent auditor annually to report on the presentation of the description and on the suitability of the design and operating effectiveness of the Contractor’s business services controls IAW PWS Paragraph 5.2.19.

Q174 Please clarifies what support is expected for effort by GNMA & GSE to develop & to implement Liquid Marker for HECM loan?

R174 The Contractor shall provide HECM information from its Business Service Solution via an interface with GNMA and other GSEs, and there may be changes made to modify the data interface files to include additional fields based on regulatory/legislative changes (See R43).

Q175 Is there an incumbent currently performing these services? Please provide the name and contract number?

R175 Quality Software Services Inc. (QSSI) C-OPC-23426

Q176 How many FTE are currently performing these services?

R176 Information is not available

Q177 Are subcontractor letter of commitment required from all subcontractors or just the major Subcontractors.

R177 Yes, See L7

Q178 Past Performance - Should it only come from the prime, or it can come from the sub also?

R178 See R162

Q179 Will you have to become a FHA approved Servicer?

R179 No.

Q180 Can you explain more about the line item for the system price that you’re considering adding? It is unclear what mention by that is?

R180 Amendment 1 to the Pricing Sheet and the Solicitation removed CLIN 5006 Optional Line Item.

Q181 Our understanding is that if a bidder is a joint venture, the past performance of each of the partners conveys to the joint venture. Would you please confirm and advise if five past performance references should be submitted for each partner or if five past performance references total for the joint venture as a whole will suffice.

R181 See R162