ESBD_File_346545_Amendment No. 2 RFP 24-042 (1-25-24).pdf

Amendment No. 2

RFP 24-042

AMENDMENT NO. 2

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (“RFP”) 24-042

MUNICIPAL COURT COLLECTION SERVICES

January 25, 2024

The City of Missouri City (“CITY”), Texas has issued this Amendment No. 2 to the above-referenced RFP for the purposes of:

1. Incorporating the attached Amendment Acknowledgment Form into this solicitation, which must be returned per Section 41 Submittals (on page 9 of 10) in the following sequence:

• Attachment A Proposal Cover Sheet

• Amendment Acknowledgment Form

• The information required per Exhibit D Evaluation Criteria

• Attachment B Exceptions

• Attachment C Customer Reference List

• Attachment D Questionnaire

• Attachment E Resident Certification

• Attachment F Application for Local Preference

• Attachment G Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, Ineligibility, and Voluntary Exclusion (Page 2 of 2 only)

• Form 1295 Certificate of Interested Party

2. Changing the Published Weights per Exhibit D Evaluation Criteria to read:

• Criteria 1: The Qualifications of the Firm (Published Weight: 15%)

• Criteria 2: Project Methodology (Published Weight: 25%)

• Criteria 3: Company Experience: (Published Weight: 40%)

• Criteria 4: Value-Added Service: (Published Weight: 20%)

3. Deleting Exhibit A Scope of Services that was included in the original solicitation and replacing it with the attached Exhibit A Scope of Services Revised 1-23-2024.

4. Answering the following Questions that were submitted to the CITY in writing per item

5 of Exhibit B Procurement Schedule:

Question 1: In going through y’all’s RFP for Municipal Court Collection Services I was unable to determine the current potential value on the outstanding collections? Can you provide an estimate on the value of the outstanding collections the court is looking at?

Answer 1: See Answer 14 annotated on Amendment 1 dated January 12, 2024.

Question 2: Can the City please explain why the prior vendor did not complete their contract?

Answer 2: See Answer 1 annotated on Amendment No. 1 dated January 12, 2024.

Question 3: Is the collection fee included in every court judgment /order referred for collection?

Answer 3: No.

Question 4: Are the court judgments/orders available for production if validation of the debt is requested by the consumer?

Answer 4: No.

Question 5: Does the client placement file include all information necessary to comply with Regulation F? For example, the judgment date, balance at time of judgment and any itemization of said balance along with any balance changes between the judgment date and placement with the agency. Exhibit A Section 1 describes information that will be included - but is not limited to said information.

Answer 5: Current export data complies with current requirements.

Question 6: Is the draft service agreement in Exhibit C open to negotiation?

Answer 6: See Answer 7.

Question 7: If the draft service agreement in Exhibit C is open to negotiation, must any contract changes be documented as exceptions as part of the bid process?

Answer 7: See Section 19 Exceptions on page 5 of 10 of the original solicitation.

Question 8: The use of vendors for services such as skip tracing and letter service are customary in the collection industry. For the purposes of this RFP does the City deem these types of service providers as sub-contractors?

Answer 8: The City has not deemed these types of service providers as subcontractors. The use of any sub-contractor(s) should be annotated in the Project Methodology.

All other terms and conditions specified in RFP 24-042 shall remain the same.

Purchasing Division Financial Services Department City of Missouri City, Texas E-mail: Bids@Missouricitytx.gov mailto:Bids@Missouricitytx.gov

Amendment Acknowledgment Form

AMENDMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT FORM

The undersigned acknowledges the receipt of the following Amendments associated with RFP 24- 042 Municipal Court Collection Services:

• Amendment No. 1 dated January 12, 2024; and,

• Amendment No. 2 dated January 25, 2024.

LEGAL NAME OF COMPANY

NAME OF AUTHORIZED INDIVIDUAL TITLE

SIGNATURE DATE

Exhibit A

Scope of Services

Revised 1-23-2024

1. The Court will provide electronically to the successful Contractor (hereinafter referred to in this section as “Contractor”) of those persons having outstanding City of Missouri City Municipal Court cases. This information can include, but is not limited to:

1.1 Person’s name, personal identifiers and driver’s license number, last known residential address, last known telephone number, citation number, offense or alleged offense committed, offense date, amount of fine, amount due, and if applicable, date of warrant and amount of warrant fine.

1.2 The City will provide current file layouts. Electronic transfer of data must include the Contractor having a PC that enables the City to email an attachment or upload on the Internet via secure FTP. The Contractor must be able to receive and return files back and forth between the City and the Contractor.

1.3 The Contractor will be responsible for ensuring compatibility of the City’s data files and transmittal medium to the Contractor’s computer system. The Contractor shall bear all costs, if necessary, for data conversion to make the City’s computer system compatible with that of the Contractor and any incidental costs related to the data transfer.

2. Historically, the City sends various outstanding misdemeanors and warrants to the

Contractor for collection services on a regular basis (i.e. daily, weekly, and/or monthly). The City makes no guarantee as to the number, type, dollar amount, or collectability of fines and/or fees from these cases. The Court alone will determine which cases are referred to the Contractor for collection. However, in general, the court will refer for collections cases and warrants consist of the following types:

2.1 Active Arrest Warrants – These are warrants in which no judgment has been entered assessing any sums due from the defendant in the case, but the defendant is subject to immediate arrest to answer for the pending criminal charge.

2.2 Active Capias Pro Fine Warrants – These are warrants in which a judgment has been entered assessing a sum owed by the defendant in order to discharge the defendant from liability and the defendant is subject to immediate arrest.

3. The City will supply the Contractor with two separate listings. They shall be known as the History File and the Collect and Warrant File.

3.1 The Collect and Warrant File shall be issued on a regular or as-needed basis and shall contain those cases that are Active Warrants that were processed by the Missouri City Municipal Court staff.

3.2 The History File shall be provided one time only. This file will contain the entire list of active warrants previously worked by the Missouri City Municipal Court Staff. The approximate number of outstanding cases for past collections is 10,000.

4. Contractor agrees to:

4.1 Become familiar with the legal distinctions of each type of case and warrant submitted for collection effort, and develop a series of contacts with the defendant that do not violate the defendant’s statutory and constitutional rights.

4.2 Submit written scripts for telephone contacts and written communications for approval by the City for each type of case and warrant submitted to the Contractor for collection services. Pay all costs related to telephone contact and written communications.

4.3 Instruct all defendants to forward monies directly to the City of Missouri City

Municipal Court. Should the Contractor receive a payment from a defendant, the Contractor shall forward payment directly to the “City in the form of the original negotiable instrument received.

4.4 Use due diligence, reasonable and ethical methods, and employ lawful means to effect collection on the City’s outstanding cases including adherence to all Federal and State laws governing collections.

4.5 Guarantee that every defendant will be dealt with in a professional and courteous manner.

4.6 Return information on cases submitted for collection services including all information developed by the Contractor regarding the defendant or his/her whereabouts, as requested by the City.

4.7 Ensure close coordination with the Court for all collection operations at all times. Guarantee that a full-time customer service representative will be assigned to the City and available to address day-to-day issues.

4.8 Work with the City to conduct Warrant Round-Up and/or Amnesty Programs as requested, requiring the Contractor to send out additional notices and providing the City with an updated address list of defendants.

4.9 Keep all information supplied by the City confidential, and not disclose it to parties other than the Contractor’s employees on a need-to-know basis for contract performance and to the defendant. Social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, or any other information deemed confidential by the City shall be kept confidential to anybody other than the defendant. The City will notify the Contractor of information deemed confidential, as appropriate.

5. Both the City and the Contractor will jointly review the appropriate cases for which payment is due to the Contractor monthly.

6. The Contractor will be paid:

6.1 Based on a percentage of fines and costs/fees collected;

6.2 On a pro-rata basis as partial payments are made to the Court; and,

6.3 A collection fee in accordance with Article 103.0031 of the Texas Code of

Criminal Procedure, as amended, on all delinquent violations issued on or after June 15, 2001. The outstanding balance of any case referred to the Contractor contains the following components: the fine, mandated/approved court costs/fees, and a collection fee.

7. The Contractor will not be paid:

7.1 More than once a month;

7.2 For expenses incurred under the Contract;

7.3 If judicial decisions result in the Court not receiving payments on cases (such as credit for time served, dismissals, waivers, community service, etc.) or cases are administratively closed without payment (sometimes referred to as a “purge”); and,

7.4 If the defendant is arrested and confined to jail on the outstanding warrant.

Since a bond is not considered a payment, the Contractor is not compensated for a bond unless it is forfeited.

8. Acceptable performance exists when the Contractor has:

8.1 Conducted at least “minimum collection efforts” as outlined in the Contractor’s proposal on all referred cases regardless of amount;

8.2 Submitted timely all monthly statements and reports to the City that contain the requisite information specified in the contract in a consistently accurate manner;

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CR/htm/CR.103.htm

8.3 Verified the receipt of all referred cases;

8.4 Provided a monthly report of individuals suspected or known to be deceased;

8.5 Maintained continued cooperation with the Court;

8.6 Responded to all inquiries, complaints, and disputes from defendants, resolving them to the satisfaction of the Municipal Court Clerk;

8.7 Timely suspended collection efforts on all inactivated cases and returned all recalled cases to the Court;

8.8 1st letter mailed within 24 hours of inventory report approval

8.9 Phone calls start within 48 hours of first letter being mailed

8.10 By 45th day 2nd letter mailed

8.11 By 60th day 3rd letter mailed

8.12 Fiscal year annual collection rate of 25%

8.13 Immediate cancellation/withdraw from system when notified

9. The City will not be liable under the Contract for any services which are unsatisfactory or which the City has not approved.