IFB_Y26-170_Scope_of_Work_FINAL.pdf

SCOPE OF SERVICES

A. CONTRACTOR RESPONSIBILITIES

1. The Contractor will perform legal collection services for Orange County under the guidance of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), on certain accounts which have gone unpaid.

2. As a collection agency in the State of Florida, the Contractor shall be subject to the Florida Commercial Collection Practices Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The Contractor shall possess, and make available upon request of the County, all licenses required to perform these services.

3. The Contractor shall provide the Company’s data disaster recovery plan within ten (10) days after award notification.

4. The Contractor shall provide an Irrevocable Line of Credit (ILC), equal to $20,000 (twenty thousand dollars) within ten (10) business days of award. Refer to Attachment D herein. The ILC shall be issued by a federally insured institution located in the State of Florida with a rating of AAA or higher.

5. Within ten (10) days after contract award, the Contractor shall provide examples of collection notices and/or mailers currently used. Include examples used for government collections. These notices shall be submitted for approval prior to being used for the County. The County has final say on the notices to be used.

6. The Contractor shall provide resumes of ownership, management and key personnel including contact information, within ten (10) days after award notification. The resumes shall demonstrate that each member assigned to this contract has at least two (2) years of experience in the collections industry.

7. The Orange County Fire Rescue Department (OCFRD) provides billable services for patient emergency transports, Hazardous Materials Services, False Alarm Fees, Fire Watch Fees, Permit and Fire Inspection Services, Employment Agreements and any other fees designated and approved by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

a. Orange County will assign to the Contractor for collection certain accounts

(hereafter “Bad Debt accounts”) that are true, correct, due, and unpaid.

b. Contractor shall have full authority to perform all legal acts necessary to affect the collection of accounts (the “Collection Services”), and in furtherance thereof is authorized as follows:

i. To receive payments made on the accounts, payable to the

Contractor;

ii. To arrange for payments by the debtor under such terms as the Contractor deems appropriate for any account;

iii. To place information regarding the accounts with one or more credit bureaus;

iv. To make every effort to locate and correct any billing addresses on “return mail” received to assure debtor/guarantors are in receipt of the collection actions being taken to obtain payment.

c. Accounts shall remain with the Contractor until such time as the account is paid in full.

i. The County or its designee will turn new accounts over to the Contractor when the account is deemed as bad debt.

ii. The Contractor shall perform collection services for any account referred by the County without regard to the amount of the debt.

d. The Contractor shall stop all collection activity immediately when notified to cancel accounts. The County reserves the right to re-evaluate, adjust, cancel, or recall any account assigned for collection to the contractor with or without cause.

e. The Contractor shall not refer any account to any attorney for action, file a lawsuit, place a lien on property, refer any account to another Contractor, or take any other legal action against the debtor on behalf of the County without written approval by the County.

f. All copying, faxing, postal costs, etc. of any kind are to be provided by the Contractor and reflected inclusively in the bid amounts. The sole compensation to the contractor shall be at the rates specified in the contract.

g. The Contractor shall be responsible for contacting the sender of monies when there is insufficient information to identify the case for which payment is sent.

h. The Contractor shall be responsible for collecting on any dishonored items received and processed. All checks must clear the bank before the Contractor sends the monthly payment to the County, as specified under the payment provisions. As a collection agent for the County, the Contractor may collect the bad check service fee for any dishonored check, authorized by Florida Statute 125.0105, Service fee for dishonored check.

i. The Contractor shall inform customers to make remittance to be collected by the Contractor payable to the Contractor. Contractor may accept credit card payments. There shall be no additional charges to the County for credit card payments accepted by the Contractor.

j. The Contractor shall be fully responsible for all work performed under the contract.

k. Unless otherwise required by the Florida Sunshine law, all information acquired by the Contractor in the course of performing services shall be confidential, and shall not be open to examination by the public for any purpose without prior approval from the County. The Contractor shall maintain off-site backup storage of Orange County files and records that is secure from environmental and other hazards.

All data stored at the contractor site must adhere to data encryption standards defined in the County External Data Hosting Standards defined in Appendix A. All information provided to the Contractor is to be used solely for the purpose of collection of those accounts. The Contractor shall be required to assume responsibility for the safety and security of all records provided by the County. All information must be securely stored in a manner to prevent access by unauthorized persons.

l. Unless prohibited by applicable law, the County retains all rights to all data, reports, programs, designs and other results of the contract. The County reserves first publication rights to any products of this contract and the County may place the products in the public domain without permission of the Contractor. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the application of Florida Statutes, Chapter 119, the Public Records Act, by the Contractor to the materials produced in connection with the contract. Failure by the Contractor to abide by provisions of Public Records Laws may result in termination of the contract.

m. There shall be no charge to the County if the Contractor is unable to recover monies on accounts assigned. No adjustment to the fee will be made during the term of the contract.

n. All usual and customary costs incurred as a result of collecting accounts shall be the sole responsibility of the Contractor. Any costs of automation equipment, installation of data lines, printing, postage and equipment costs, etc. shall be borne by the Contractor.

o. The Contractor shall not add a charge of any kind to an assigned account except for the aforementioned bad check service fee in accordance with Section VI, paragraph 8 of the Scope of Services.

p. If the contract is terminated or expires, all accounts will be returned to the referring office/department regardless of payments made on account or arrangements made. Any fee due at such time will be paid by the County.

q. Contractor/County.

i. Contractor’s staff shall work with Orange County Fire Rescue staff to facilitate transmission of pertinent information between the County and Contractor. At inception, and throughout the contract period, some data may be delivered by hard copy, electronic or disk, depending on the capability of the software and programs between the County and the Contractor. All electronic transfer of data must comply with data encryption standards defined in the ATTACHMENT A -Enterprise Security Standards- External Data Hosting Rev3 Standards.

ii. The Contractor shall designate a Collection/Project Manager who shall have responsibility for the Contractor’s performance and shall be directly responsible for coordinating efforts with Orange County Fire Rescue.

iii. Within five (5) days of contract award, the Contractor shall provide for immediate telephone contact with the Collection/Project Management during County Business hours of 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

iv. A written response from the Contractor may be requested for complaints received by the County of any alleged action taken by the Contractor and/or its agents. The response shall be provided to the Collection/Project Manager or designee within the designated timeframe requested by Orange County Fire Rescue.

The response shall address all questions, statements and concerns requested by Orange County Fire Rescue regarding the complaints.

v. Orange County personnel will have the right to visit the office of the Contractor and/or its agents periodically for inspection of the facilities and operation used in the performance of any work under this contract.

vi. The Contractor, at the request of the County, may be asked to attend meetings in person or virtually to improve the collection of delinquent debt.

r. Personnel shall be competent, qualified and experienced to assure an aggressive, vigorous collection effort with a substantial likelihood of success.

s. The Contractor shall have bilingual staff capability in Spanish and

English.

t. Contractor shall have the capability to affect collections in all 50 states, U.S. territories or commonwealths, Caribbean nations and Canada. Contractor shall meet interstate collections requirements, which may include being certified, insured, licensed, registered and/or bonded in the state where collection is being attempted or having a resident office in that state.

u. The Contractor shall not settle any account for less than the full amount owed, unless otherwise directed in writing, by the County.

Contractor shall obtain prior specific written consent of the County prior to negotiating a final settlement or before otherwise compromising any account.

v. If Contractor discovers that the debtor is deceased, contractor shall pursue an estate residual if applicable. If recovery is not feasible, contractor shall transfer the account back to the County. Contractor shall provide appropriate documentation that a claim was filed with the decedent’s estate and/or that Contractor petitioned to have the estate liquidated to recover the debt.

w. The Contractor shall attempt to collect all account balances due as well as attempt to assess debtor’s ability to repay the debt, and if necessary, extend time payments.

x. The Contractor shall accept a hard copy or electronic information pertaining to any County account that is being transferred to the Contractor for collection. The Contractor shall also have the capability to accept electronic transfer of encrypted information from County’s billing contractor(s). Format of File from billing Contractor to Collection Agency: Text File ANSII Formatting or CSV file.

y. The Contractor shall be in compliance with respect to HCFA

(Healthcare Financing Administration), CMS (Center Medical Services), HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and the Social Security Act, concerning citizens’ privacy of information.

z. The Contractor will appoint a main contact person to supervise the accounts and provide a direct telephone and fax number to this person and be sure this person maintains open communication with the County designated fiscal representative at all times

aa. The Contractor must maintain account history notes that document communications between its representative and the debtor/guarantors via telephone or written correspondence being worked.

bb. The Contractor will provide a complete accessible download of all open accounts to the County should the Contract terminate or expire, either by request or by limits set within the contract to ensure that the County can continue in a professional business manner for our citizens.

Format of File from billing contractor to Collection Agency: Text File ANSII Formatting or CSV file.

cc. This scope of services represents a minimum effort required by the

Contractor and shall not limit the Contractor’s use of its proprietary accounts receivable collections systems, including modifications as required by Federal, State or local laws or its usual and customary practices. The County shall be advised of all modifications in advance.

dd. All reports required by this contract shall be mailed to:

Orange County Fire Rescue

Attn: Fiscal Division P.O. Box 5879

Winter Park, FL 32793-5879 Email: FireRescueFiscal@ocfl.net

ee. The accounts will be placed with Contractor for as long as both the

County and the Contractor deem necessary. Upon the County’s request, Contractor shall return to the County (a) any account placed in error when Contractor is so notified by the County; (b) accounts that are paid in full; (c) accounts that have been placed with Contractor, with the exception of any account that is in the process of immediate negotiation of a payment, settlement or adjustment arrangement, or any account that has been referred to Contractor to an attorney for the commencement of a lawsuit for collection.

This will also include any account for which payment arrangements have been negotiated and are being met according to t h e f o l l o w i n g agreed upon terms:

(a) Accounts where it is determined that the debtor is deceased and there are no assets or an estate or any other liable party;

(b) Any inactive accounts over twelve (12) months from date of placement that have had no payment.

Any account that has been forwarded to Contractor and then returned at the County’s request will be subject to the collection fees shown in the payment provisions.

ff. Accounts purged or deleted from the Contractor system that are deemed uncollectable shall be returned to the County with a detailed printout of the account and a reason the account was purged or deleted. The County will consider this account permanently uncollectable.

gg. Towards the end of the contract period, or at any time, the County may reduce the number of invoices being sent for collection or stop sending invoices for collection.

hh. At immediate termination or expiration of the contract, the Contractor will provide an electronic data file, acceptable by the County or its designated agent. The transfer of information shall contain the debtor information normally provided in monthly invoicing. A contact person name and telephone number shall be provided to the County should a debtor/guarantor clear/pay their balance after termination of this contract. In addition, the Contractor shall return to the County any data, financial reports, files, etc. with County accounts on them.

mailto:FireRescueFiscal@ocfl.net

B. OR ANGE COUNT Y’S RESPONSIBILITIE S

1. Provide the necessary information on a monthly basis for those accounts that are reviewed as needing further collection action in order to collect the balance due.

2. Refer any calls or correspondence received directly on “Bad Debt Accounts” that have been referred to the Contractor. All calls and correspondence will be referred to contact the CONTRACTOR directly.

3. Provide Contractor with information reasonably necessary for Contractor to perform the Collection Services, including, but not limited to, any communications regarding the accounts received from the account debtor or any third party either prior to or subsequent to the assignment of the account to which such communication relates and the date of delinquency for each account.

4. Have the discretion to determine at what point an account is considered delinquent and how many days delinquent the account must be in order to transfer it to Contractor. The Contractor shall accept such account transfers as valid transfers, without need to seek or validate such departmental decisions.

5. Determine the most effective, timely and equitable method of assigning accounts to Contractor.

6. Reserve the right to exercise sole discretion as to which accounts will be transferred to Contractor.

7. Notify Contractor of any adjustments or corrections made to the amount due.

8. Not provide any further assistance in the collection of accounts, once an account is transferred to Contractor, notwithstanding ongoing administrative support, as necessary, for access to County records pre and post account transfer.

9. Provide written communications with the Contractor of any payments received from the debtor directly in order to update the account.

10. The County reserves the right to change any portion of the work, outlined herein if there are changes in federal or state law or County Ordinance, written rule, resolution or administrative policy or procedure that make it necessary.

C. REPORTS AND STATEMENTS REQUIRED:

Reports to be provided to OCFRD shall include, but not be limited to:

1. Acknowledgment Report – This report is to be sent by the Contractor verifying that the Contractor has received the referrals sent by the OCFRD.

A listing, in alphabetical order, of the accounts referred showing the account name, account number, selected debtor file number, account balance and date referred. The report shall be summarized by type of account, showing the total accounts referred and the total value of accounts referred.

2. Report of Referrals of Bad Debt Accounts – This report will be provided by the OCFRD and/or its Medical Billing Agent. The parameters for such a report will be agreed upon by the County and the Contractor to insure the ability of uploading the account information by the Contractor’s AR Collection System.

3. Monthly Remittance Report – A listing, in alphabetical order, of the account name, account number, Contractor file number, credits to the accounts (for accounts involving litigation, recovered costs), total gross amount collected and paid directly to Contractor, balance due and Contractor fees associated with the collections. This report shall by type of account, showing totals for all number and value categories.

4. Fiscal Year Semi-Annual Collection Report Summary – This report shall be provided by the Contractor to reflect monthly collection, by account number, the last 6 months of percentage totals, dollar amounts collected for each month and the remaining total balance of AR to be worked for each account number.

5. Performance Report – This report shall be provided by the Contractor monthly, with a summary of aged receivables, by account number. The report shall show the number of accounts assigned, collected, collection rate, and the number with percentage returned.

6. Close and Return Report – This report shall be provided by the Contractor indicating the accounts that have been determined to be closed and returned for any reason. The report shall provide the Debtor/Guarantor Name, Account Number, Balance Due, if reported to credit, and any legal action recommendations, such as bankruptcy, deceased or accounts recalled by the OCFRD. If the debtor is bankrupt, the bankruptcy case number shall be indicated. If the debtor is deceased, an indication as to the status of the estate shall be provided. The report will also indicate if collection activity has ceased for any reason other than those outlined above.

D. PAYMENT PROVISIONS

The payment provisions as specified on the Fee Schedule shall be as follows:

1. The Contractor shall receive a percentage of the gross amounts collected on old and new account balances referred by the OCFRD. Payment for the fee will be made on a monthly basis via a Delivery Order issued by the County.

Contractor shall issue a monthly remittance report and statement along with an invoice for the amount owed to Contractor.

2. The monthly statements of collections shall contain remittance number, gross amount collected by the Contractor, fees charged by Contractor, any reimbursements from debtors for fees and costs (as allowed by State Statutes) and net amount due to the Contractor. The statement shall also have an invoice attached to it indicating the amount owed to Contractor and payment will be made to Contractor per the Delivery Order. Attached to the statement shall be the Contractor’s check(s) for the gross amount collected, payable to the BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA (Attention: Orange County Fire Rescue)

SCOPE OF SERVICES