Performance Work Statement.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Appraisal Management Service (AMS)

1.0 BACKGROUND

The Construction and Valuation Section (C&V) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) is responsible for issuing the appraisal assignment to an appraiser approved by the Secretary, ensuring quality of appraisal reports on properties offered as security for VA guaranteed loans, management of the VA appraisal panel, and other assorted duties. Historically, lenders submitted appraisal requests by telephone to a local VA Regional Office (RO). Each RO managed a fee appraiser panel for its jurisdiction. The fee appraiser panel is comprised of VA-approved independent appraisers.

The VA assigned the appraisal to an approved fee appraiser located in or near the area where the subject property was located. The completed appraisal report was mailed or hand-delivered to the RO for review and subsequent issuance of a Certificate of Reasonable Value (CRV) by a VA Review Appraiser.

The CRV forms were later replaced by the Notice of Value (NOV). As automation advanced, lenders started requesting appraisals electronically and an automated VA System provided the name and contact information for the assigned appraiser.

Shortly thereafter, the VA began authorizing lenders to perform reviews of completed appraisal reports and issue NOVs through the Lender Appraisal Processing Program (LAPP). The lender’s Staff Appraisal Reviewer (SAR), usually an underwriter employed by the lender, received training by the VA staff on the review process and issuance of the NOV. This procedure currently remains in effect. Although LAPP is a voluntary program, currently approximately 97% of the total volume is processed under this program.

In 2002, the VA completed a nationwide initiative that consolidated 46 ROs with loan guaranty operations to eight (8) Regional Loan Centers (RLCs). As C&V moves forward with a national workflow approach, it is essential that proven technological advances be taken advantage of to improve resource management and to continue providing quality benefits to our nation’s Veterans, in a more cost-efficient manner. The Construction and Valuation Value Stream is more centralized and will be operating out of the 8 offices under one vision.

The requirement incorporates services and functionality necessary to improve benefit delivery. The current C&V environment consists of approximately one hundred and thirty (130) VA staff members, over 10,000 Staff Appraisal Reviewers (SARs) (Lenders and Servicers) and over 6,500 VA-approved independent real estate appraisers.

1.1 The Appraisal Process

C&V provides a value and eligibility determination for all properties used as security for loans that are guaranteed by the VA. Additionally, C&V provides the value determination for pre-liquidation properties.

Before loans can be guaranteed by the VA, an appraisal of the security property being purchased by the Veteran must be ordered by the Veteran’s lender. Currently, lenders access WebLGY using the VA Loan Guaranty HUB where they order the appraisal. WebLGY automatically assign an appraiser from the VA fee panel, on a rotational basis, based upon variables such as appraiser availability and geographic location of the subject property. The system automatically sends an email notification of the assignment to the assigned appraiser. Upon completion of the appraisal report, the appraiser uploads the report into WebLGY and a system-generated email notifies the appropriate reviewer (lender’s SAR, servicer’s SAR, or VA review appraiser) that the appraisal report has been completed and is available for downloading.

The same process applies to ordering a liquidation appraisal used for foreclosure purposes.

The VA provides access to WebLGY for lenders, servicers, other appraisal requestors (brokers and attorneys), appraisers, and internal VA users. Currently, over 36,000 individuals’ access WebLGY on a routine basis. All users have a predetermined level of authorization within the system, based upon their responsibility and need for access, to specific information.

The type of appraisal report requested will determine if the lender’s SAR, servicer’s SAR, or VA review appraiser will review the completed report and issue the NOV. The following are types of appraisals, which can be requested using WebLGY:

• Lender Appraisal Processing (LAP) – A purchase or cash-out refinance appraisal request ordered by a lender (or a broker that has a supervising lender) that has a SAR on staff to review the appraisal report and issue the NOV.

• Individual (IND) – A purchase appraisal request ordered by a lender that does not have a SAR on staff to review the appraisal report and issue the NOV. These appraisal reports are reviewed by a VA staff reviewer who issues the NOV.

• Liquidation Appraisal (LGI) – A liquidation appraisal request ordered by the loan servicer and reviewed by a VA staff appraiser who will issue the NOV.

• Servicer Appraisal Processing (SAP) – A liquidation appraisal request ordered by the loan servicer or its attorney that will be reviewed by a SAR who will issue the NOV.

• Partial Release – A partial release appraisal request is ordered when a Veteran who has a guaranteed VA loan requests to have a portion of the property released from the security.

These requests are currently NOT being ordered through WebLGY.

• Construction to Perm and Renovation loans: These types of loans have a different assignment condition and may provide two reports on the same property with an As Is and as improved valuation.

The latest NOV remains in WebLGY as a permanent document. VA procedures require that a copy of the NOV and the reviewed appraisal report are provided to the Veteran by the reviewer, in the case of a purchase or refinance.

WebLGY is the permanent system of record for all C&V information. The VA maintains detailed records for all appraisal requests, appraisals pending review, and NOVs issued. It also maintains a record of the quality reviews performed by VA staff, with deficiencies noted during the review, and whether they were substantive or non-substantive. Since November 2013, WebLGY is the permanent record for AMS data captured from the reading and scoring of each appraisal uploaded into WebLGY.

WebLGY maintains all quality review information captured from a desk review, the in-house review of an appraisal report and NOV issued by a VA Review Appraiser. The desk reviews assist VA Staff in their oversight responsibilities for appraisers and SARs. The results of the reviews are placed on a templated form in WebLGY.

• Desk review – A representative sampling of these appraisal desk reviews undergo post endorsement review conducted by LGY’s operations staff.

1.2 Purpose and Vision

The purpose of this Performance Work Statement (PWS) is to support the procurement of VA Automated Appraisal Management Services (AMS) to further enhance the appraisal review process, thereby improving the oversight functions of C&V. This will aid in the future of VA’s modernization objectives described at the Technology Knowledge Center – VA Home Loans.

C&V’s vision is to provide a phased approach to accomplish a fully integrated, seamless, and user-friendly solution encompassing the appr47aisal process from the initial request and assignment through the issuance of a VA guaranty. The contractor shall provide the C&V staff, lenders, and servicers in the United States (U.S.) with services that will improve standardization, risk management, timeliness, and performance, as well as the credibility and quality of valuation functions.

The contractor shall be able to accommodate an estimated 1,000,000 appraisals annually; however, VA anticipates average volume of approximately 750,000 annually. The VA processes appraisals for Single Family Residential properties representing 91% of all appraisal assignments. Condominium assignments represent 7% while manufactured home appraisals represent 2% of the total volume. Appraisals are completed on origination, cash out refinance, and liquidation transactions. Market conditions dictate actual volume.

The AMS process, in its current state, begins after the notification to the appraiser that an assignment has been made. The AMS system receives the appraisal report uploaded by the appraiser and provides a validation process to ensure that the report matches the assignment. The AMS then performs an electronic screening review function and scoring based on VA requirements and using data collected from VA appraisals and other sources. The AMS provides the data and results of the scoring and electronic screening review and collects the data from the appraisal reports for use by the VA. Lastly, AMS provides a desktop appraisal process using data from the VA and other sources to develop a desktop valuation product.

An AMS contractor for future state with all modernization efforts in place will have a more active role.

The VA will receive appraisal orders from VA approved lenders via an Application Programming Interface (API) interface. The request will then be sent to the AMS contractor. The contractor will receive, process, and submit all data to the VA on an API. Once the AMS contractor receives the appraisal order, they will assign the appraisal to a VA approved appraiser. The VA approved appraiser will log into a user interface (UI) that is designed and implemented by the contractor. All work, tracking of milestones and receiving of the appraisal will be done on the UI developed by the contractor.

The future state of the VA and the AMS contractor will also have other roles such as Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment of fees between Lenders, Servicers, agents, and appraisers. They will enable industry proven technology for reinspection’s, hard stops on industry proven results with VA required policy. The contractor will also support VA’s 5-year vision of modernization.

The VA performs targeted reviews based upon the risk issues and the AMS score generated for the appraisal. Automated risk-based scoring generated by the AMS enables the VA to perform enhanced analysis on those appraisals targeted by the AMS model. AMS will provide an integrated and standardized appraisal review process that is based on the VA risk profile.

Based on the score of the appraisal, authorized VA employees may elect to order Other Related Services (ORS). The ORS will provide VA staff with additional information regarding the property to evaluate the accuracy and credibility of the appraisal. ORS is comprised of desktop appraisal, Automated Valuation Model (AVM), Multiple Listing Data, Cost Data, and Improved/Unimproved Land Data.

1.3 Applicable Documents

Documents referenced or relevant to this PWS are listed below. The contractor shall be guided by the information contained in these documents in performance of this PWS, each can be found at the website indicated:

1. Privacy Act, 5 United States Code (U.S.C.) §552a, which is available at:

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/granule/USCODE-2010-title5/USCODE-2010-title5-partI-chap5-subchapII-sec552a/content-detail.html

2. VA Pamphlet 26-7: Lender’s Handbook (Chapters 10-18), which is available at:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/warms/pam26_7.asp

3. VA M 26-2: Construction and Valuation Handbook, which is available at:

http://www.benefits.va.gov/warms/M26_2.asp

4. Relevant circulars pertaining to VA appraisals located on VA’s Website:

https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/resources_circulars.asp

5. 1012-2016 - IEEE Standard for System, Software, and Hardware Verification and Validation which is available at: 488 https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8055462/

6. VA Directive 6500, Information Security Program (VA Handbook 6500.6, Contract Security, which is available at: http://www.va.gov/vapubs

7. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Directive 0710 (Implementation Handbook 0710.01, which is available at: http://www.va.gov/vapubs and http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/index.cfm

8. Veterans Affairs Acquisition Regulation (VAAR)-852.273-75: Security Requirements for Unclassified IT Resources (Interim-October 2008), which is available at:

http://www.va.gov/oal/library/vaar/vaar852.asp

9. Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Appendix III of OMB Circular A-130, which is available at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/circulars_a130_a130appendix_iii

10. Rights in Data - General, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.227-14(d)(1), which is available at: http://farsite.hill.af.mil/reghtml/regs/far2afmcfars/fardfars/far/52_227.htm

11. VA Directive 6300, Records and Information Management (VA Handbook 6300.1 Records Management Procedure, and all applicable VA Records Control Schedules), which is available at:

http://www.va.gov/vapubs/search_action.cfm?dType=2

12. VA Directive 0730, Section 6f (Physical Security) and VA Memorandum: IT Oversight & Compliance Information Physical Security Assessments, October 24, 2007, which is available at:

https://www.va.gov/vapubs/search_action.cfm?formno=730

13. VA Directive 0710, September 10, 2004, which is available at:

http://www1.va.gov/vapubs/viewPublication.asp?Pub_ID=487&FType=2

14. Mortgage Industry Standards and Maintenance Organization (MISMO) Version 3.2 and Version 2.6/2,6 GSE for Appraisal Reports which is available at: http://mismo.org/

15. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac UAD Documents which are available at:

https://www.fanniemae.com/singlefamily/uniform-appraisal-dataset#

16. Code of Federal Regulations Part 36-Loan Guaranty: eCFR: 38 CFR Part 36 -- Loan Guaranty

17. Technology Knowledge Center – VA Home Loans:

https://www.benefits.va.gov/HOMELOANS/technology-knowledge-center.asp

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

2.1 Performance Period and Contract Type

This will be a single-award Firm-Fixed Price contract.

The period of performance (POP) will be a twelve-month base period, with four (4) twelve-month annual option periods to be exercised at the discretion of the Contract Officer.

2.2 Place of Performance

Most of the work shall take place at the contractor’s site, however where specifically stated in this PWS, some functions will be performed at Government’s facilities. No work at any Government site will take place on Federal holidays or weekends, unless directed by the Contracting Officer (CO).

There are eleven (11) Federal holidays set by law (USC Title 5 Section 6103) that VA follows:

Under current definitions, five (5) holidays are set by date:

New Year's Day January 1 Juneteenth June 19 Independence Day July 4 Veterans Day November 11 Christmas Day December 25

If any of the above falls on a Saturday, then Friday shall be observed as a holiday. Similarly, if one falls on a Sunday, then Monday shall be observed as a holiday.

The other six (6) holidays are set by a day of the week and month:

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday Third Monday in January Washington's Birthday Third Monday in February Memorial Day Last Monday in May Labor Day First Monday in September Columbus Day Second Monday in October Thanksgiving Fourth Thursday in November

2.3 Travel

Travel for this requirement is anticipated; approved travel and per diem shall be reimbursed in accordance with Federal Travel Regulation as prescribed in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.205-46, and housed at https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/regulations/federal-travel-regulation. Each contractor invoice must include copies of all receipts that support the travel costs claimed in the invoice. Travel must be pre-approved by the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) and CO. Travel must be priced separately in the price schedule and will be segregated accordingly on another line item. Local travel within a 50-mile radius from the contractor’s facility is considered the cost of doing business and will not be reimbursed. This includes travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time. Travel performed for personal convenience and daily travel to and from work at the contractor’s facility will not be reimbursed. Travel, subsistence, and associated labor charges for travel time for travel beyond a 50-mile radius of the contractor’s facility are authorized for reimbursement on a case-by-case basis and must be pre-approved by the COR. General and administrative expenses charged against travel costs will not be reimbursed.

3.0 SCOPE OF WORK

A Commercial-Off-the-Shelf (COTS) product with proven past performance in the appraisal industry is required which must be capable of integration with WebLGY through specifications unilaterally developed and maintained by the VA. The contractor shall provide all resources necessary to accomplish the requirements described in this PWS, except as otherwise specified. The COTS product must accommodate modernization objectives to meet the needs of the VA.

Specifically, the contractor shall provide AMS and ORS support for the VA. The services shall encompass the functional areas listed below. The contractor shall continuously update and enhance information made available to the VA and the performance of their system, which shall provide the VA with updates of the contractor’s technology changes to ensure continued communication with the VA’s systems.

This document entails services provided within the U.S. The U.S. is defined as the 50 States, Territories and possessions, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The service provider must be able to provide all services with the same service level within all geographic locations. The scope of work is comprised of seven (7) main functional areas shown in the table below. Detailed descriptions of those areas are available in Section 4.0.

FUNCTIONAL AREA SECTION

Program management and Oversight 4.1 Training 4.2 Operational Data Reporting 4.3 Appraisal Management Services (AMS) Services 4.4 Other Related Services (ORS) 4.5 IT and Online Accessibility of Information 4.6 Optional Task Upgrades with Modernization 4.7 Performance Metrics 4.8 Delivery Table 4.9

3.1 Performance Objectives

The contractor shall meet the following performance objectives throughout the period of performance:

• Deliver a high-quality experience for all stakeholders, including Veterans, lenders, appraisers, VA staff and servicers who are partnering with the VA to serve them, through timely appraisal reports. Provide tools for conducting strong oversight to ensure accuracy of appraisal reports as VA appraisals are performed to protect the interests of the program and all program participants.

(Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7)

• Ensure that VA’s appraisal review staff and lenders and servicers’ SARs have the latest appraisal review tools and resources available in the industry to best serve Veterans.

(Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6)

• Provide innovative technology to ensure that the VA is exceeding appraisal industry benchmarks. Quality appraisal services are essential in supporting the VA’s commitment that VA guaranteed home loans are the product of choice for Veterans. (Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7)

• Provide an AMS/ORS to enhance the appraisal services provided to Veterans through VA’s home loan guaranty program. The VA is the leading voice in housing for our Veterans.

Appraisals are critical in maximizing the opportunities for Veterans and Servicemembers to obtain and retain homes. (Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7)

• Provide data, data reporting, and data analytic capabilities that support VA’s objective of making data-driven policy and program decisions. (Deliverables 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7)

4.0 TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

The contractor shall provide all tasks and deliverables described within this document. All deliverables shall be submitted to the Contracting Officer Representative (COR) in accordance with the PWS and meet the standards set forth in the PWS section 4.8 Performance Metrics. Unless otherwise stipulated, written deliverables shall be phrased in plain English. Statistical and other technical terminology shall not be used without providing a glossary of terms and data dictionary as applicable.

The following section discusses the underlying technical and management constraints and considerations that support VA's objectives.

The contractor shall follow and comply with all applicable local, state, and Federal regulations and laws to perform the tasks under this contract throughout the duration of the contract. Each of the functional areas is discussed in detail in the following subsections.

4.1 Program Management Support Services

A. Program Management

The contractor shall perform program management support services to plan, monitor and control the tasks outlined in the PWS and specifically the implementation of AMS/ORS. At a minimum, the following services are required:

• Development and delivery of final, detailed Project Management Plan (PMP).

• A detailed roadmap of when all features/functionality will be delivered to production.

Contractor shall update roadmap when there is a change or update to features and/or functionality.

• Change management plan to coordinate all actions necessary to deliver feature/functionality to production.

• Development and delivery of monthly status/progress reports unless otherwise requested by the COR at no additional cost to the Government.

• Attendance and participation in monthly virtual project meetings with the government and other contractors. Project meeting frequencies may increase or decrease depending on Government needs, at no additional costs to the Government.

• Risk Register for all deliverables on contract, and subsequent collaboration with the government to identify, monitor, and mitigate project risks in accordance with LGY’s Enterprise Risk Management program.

The contractor shall provide a draft of the PMP for the tasks defined in this PWS within 30 calendar days of contract award and shall make all requested updates to PMP within 10 (ten) calendar days of VA request. The PMP, and all other written deliverables, shall follow the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). The contractor shall provide a final, detailed PMP and briefing for the VA project team that presents the contractor’s plan for completing all tasks.

The final plan shall describe, in detail, the approach to be used to accomplish the tasks. At a minimum, the PMP shall include the risk, quality and technical management approach, work breakdown structure (WBS), schedule management approach, detailed schedule using MS Project (including compliance reviews, training, testing, etc.), and proposed personnel (by position title). For every task outlined in the PMP, the contractor shall identify in writing all necessary subtasks (if any) and associated sub-milestone dates. The contractor’s subtask structure shall be as reflected in the technical proposal and detailed PMP.

Any changes, edits, deviations, or variances from the PMP, including the contractor’s subtask additions, requires approval of the COR and will be closely monitored.

To provide for a rapid, seamless, and error-free transition to the AMS/ORS services, the transition process will be implemented in phases, and coordinated with the VA. The entire transition must be completed within six (6) months from the date of contract period of performance start date. The contractor will provide details for all phases of the transition. Additionally, the PMP shall include a method for identifying the results of interchange and user testing and making corrections or changes to the service in response to test results. When the contractor has demonstrated that the AMS and ORS services can support all requirements, the COR will provide written acceptance of the AMS/ORS services.

The contractor shall provide monthly status reports to the COR or at alternate frequencies as determined by the VA at no additional cost to the Government. These reports shall detail work performed for the period of time against the task identified in the PMP and identify work to be performed in the following month. Where deviations to the plan exist, the report shall explain why these occurred and provide recovery actions to the plan. The contractor shall attend monthly (or as often as determined by the COR) project meetings with the Government and other contractors to review the status of the AMS/ORS project.

Monthly (or as often as determined by the COR) project meetings will be held virtually at no additional cost to the Government.

The contractor with input from the COR shall schedule and facilitate all meetings; prepare agendas; and prepare and distribute meeting minutes with action item lists with-in one (1) business day of the conclusion of the meeting. The contractor shall provide a project status report for each meeting. The report will provide highlights of the accomplishments, activities pending, outstanding issues and recommendations for resolution, and issues resolved.

The Project Manager shall:

• Ensure that all requirements are performed, and deliverables are submitted per established schedules.

• Communicate regularly and effectively with AMS/ORS Project Manager, COR, and CO.

• Effectively balance and schedule involvement of appropriate resources throughout the project lifecycle.

• Ensure that the contractor’s key personnel are qualified to conduct the required tasks and deliverables, having expertise in the following disciplines: Appraisal, Technology Development, Testing and Deployment, Change Management, Analytics, Reporting, and Training.

• Utilize project metrics to track, manage, and analyze task progress and communicate findings to the COR to ensure appropriate focus on critical attention areas.

• Identify opportunities for improvement and drive results and provide written findings to the COR.

• Anticipate project challenges and risk scenarios and prepare, lead, and execute proactive mitigation strategies to ensure optimal results.

• Perform internal and external compliance reviews as required by the PMP.

• Serve as the single point of contact for contractor performance related questions.

• Manage and monitor the components for project execution including developing and planning resource assignments and allocations, developing program status reports and project reviews, and managing and tracking project deliverables as well as provide an Integrated Master Schedule within 60 calendar days of award.

• Coordinate participation in the LGY’s development lifecycle, based on SAFEAgile methodologies, including, but not limited to, routine participation in scrums, scrum of scrums, standup, PI planning, solutioning, rapid prototyping, etc.

• Notify the VA in writing of any online application enhancements or changes that could potentially affect the VA’s use of the application.

• Contractor shall respond to all VA inquiries, questions, concerns in an expeditious manner. The VA will field all stakeholder AMS-related inquiries. Any inquiries unable to be answered by VA staff will be forwarded to AMS Contractor for review and response.

AMS contractor shall respond to VA inquiries within two (2) business days of communication.

• The Contractor shall capture and debrief lessons learned and demonstrate continual improvement by anticipating, mitigating and/or eliminating program risks, mistakes, and maintain a “lessons learned” diary throughout the project. The diary will ensure that knowledge is captured. The diary shall be submitted each month along with the monthly status report. At scheduled meetings during the periods between monthly reports, the contractor shall discuss lessons learned. The diary does not need to be updated to honor the meeting requests.

B. Oversight

The contractor shall:

• Ensure that the contractor’s internal policies, procedures, and controls are documented and implemented to ensure program support and integrity. The contractor shall provide their internal policies, procedures, and control documentation prior to implementation and updates as necessary in accordance with the COR’s requests.

• Utilize quality control measures and/or post-delivery audit tools for validating AMS and

ORS data stored or provided to the VA. The quality control test and audit results shall be reported to the COR quarterly in a mutually agreed upon format.

• Ensure that actions of the service provider do not contribute to negative audit findings against the VA or the service providers.

• Quality Control Plan

The Contractor shall develop and maintain a Quality Control Plan to ensure all required services outline in the performance metrics are performed in accordance with the contract terms and conditions, as well as the delivery schedule timelines stated in the Performance Work Statement. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures in their plan that shall identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of marginal performance. The Contractor shall be responsible for making required changes in processes and practices to ensure performance is managed effectively. The Contractor shall take corrective action when any task associated with this contract is found to be deficient or substandard. The cost of correction is to be borne by the Contractor.

The Quality Control Plan shall include, but is not be limited to the following: The

Contractor’s method of early detection and correction of marginal quality of service, to include corrective action records (including customer complaints) in order to determine causes of deficient performance. This method shall include providing timely written explanation/documentation of the correction of the defectiveness and correction of cause in response to Government corrective action request.

The Contractor’s methodologies of performing internal quality control measures, tasks and methods to be inspected and the frequency of inspections.

The Contractor’s plan shall provide methods for identifying and preventing deficiencies and how the Contractor shall prevent the level of performance from becoming deficient.

How the Contractor shall maintain records of all inspections conducted by the

Contractor and necessary corrective action taken. This documentation shall be made available to the Government COR during the term of the contract when requested.

How the Contractor shall monitor work to ensure that performance complies with all

Performance Work Statement timelines and deadlines.

• Make a Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 (SSAE 18) report (or its equivalent) available to the VA or its auditors covering some portion of the current Government Fiscal Year (October-September).

• Notify the COR in writing within 30 calendar days of any non-material findings that resulted from an audit. Provide the COR with a written response to all non-material findings within 30 calendar days and resolution within 60 calendar days from the date of notification.

• Notify the COR in writing immediately upon recognition of material findings that resulted from an audit. Provide the COR with a written response to all material findings noted in audit reports within 14 calendar days and resolution within 30 calendar days from the date of notification.

• Provide audit access and reporting for all data and files related to this requirement within two (2) business days of the request from the VA. In the event of an onsite audit the contractor shall provide reasonable private meeting space, access to all records (paper or electronic), documentation, data, and relevant information related to this requirement during the contractor’s normal business hours. The contractor shall permit the VA, or its designee, to copy any such documentation and shall provide equipment and supplies for that purpose.

• Obtain approval by the VA of changes or enhancements which were initiated by new or revised industry requirements or another client’s initiative prior to implementation, if the change will affect the VA’s use of the application. Changes, revisions or enhancements initiated by industry and approved by the VA, will be implemented at no additional charge to the VA within 45 calendar days of request.

• Provide current copies of all plans (e.g., Disaster Recovery Plan/Business Continuity

Plan, Training Plan, Escalation Procedures), and update as needed.

• Appear (at contractor’s expense) on behalf of VA as a witness to testify on matters related to these requirements, in the extremely rare instances where this might be required.

• Demonstrate that all actions taken protect the VA's interest.

• The contractor is required to immediately report any work requests, to the COR and contracting officer, that could potentially be inherently governmental.

• Final approval authority of any contractor proposed action will be reserved for federal employees only.

• Contractor affiliation must be clearly displayed on all presentation material, documentation, and emails.

• The contractor must alert the COR and contracting officer before the contractor performs services that involve or relate to evaluating another contractor's performance so that the contracting officer or COR can complete a conflict-of-interest review.

• Provide a monthly report which addresses the following.

List of tasks that the contractor is working on or has recently completed, Any issues or concerns.

Performance self-assessment of the overall effectiveness and results of the contractor’s performance against the set standards or goals, which includes qualitative assessments of the contractor’s work quality and efficiency.

Deliverables:

4.1.A.1 PMP, including WBS, Integrated Master Schedule, and all deliverables within the PMP.

Initial PMP to be provided within 30 calendar days of period of performance start date.

All requested updates to the PMP shall be provided within ten (10) calendar days of request. PMP will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once PMP is initially accepted by VA.

4.1.A.2 Detailed Features and Functionality Roadmap to be provided within 60 calendar days of period of performance start date. Roadmap will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once roadmap is initially accepted by VA.

4.1.A.3 Features and Functionality - Change Management Plan (CMP) to be provided within 60 calendar days of period of performance start date. CMP will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once CMP is initially accepted by VA.

4.1.A.4 Risk Register in accordance with LGY’s Enterprise Risk Management program. Initial draft to be provided within 90 calendar days of period of performance start date.

Contractor will provide quarterly thereafter at the same time as the Quarterly Quality Control and Audit Findings Report.

4.1.A.5 Monthly Status Reports which in includes progress and performance results due by the

5th day of each month, unless otherwise specified by the COR.

4.1.A.6 Lessons Learned Diary (to be submitted with each Monthly Status Report)

4.1.B.1 Quarterly Quality Control and Audit Findings Report to be provided within 90 calendar days of period of performance start date.

4.1.B.2 Quality Control Plan (QCP) to be provided within 30 calendar days of period of performance start date. All updates to the QCP by contractor are due to the VA within ten

(10) calendar days of revision. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once QCP is initially accepted by VA. Contractor is responsible for updating QCP to reflect any internal changes to Contractor’s oversight process and submit to VA for review and approval.

4.1.B.3 SSAE 18 to be provided annually upon request.

4.1.B.4 Disaster Recovery Plan/Business Continuity Plan, Training Plan, and Escalation

Procedures to be provided within 60 calendar days of period pf performance start date.

VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once plans are initially accepted by VA. Contractor is responsible for updating plans to reflect any internal changes to processes, procedures, etc., and submit to VA for review and approval.

4.1.B.5 AMS/ORS Change and Configuration Management Support to be provided within 90 calendar days of the period of performance start date. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA. Contractor is responsible for providing updates if/when internal changes to contractor’s change management process occurs and submit to VA for review and approval.

4.2 Training

Training is the component that provides users with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their jobs in the AMS/ORS environment. Given guidance from the VA, the contractor shall identify and develop the necessary training to implement the end state technical solution and business process transformation.

• Propose training objectives based on prior experience directly related to their product.

Contractor will certify that all affected program participants have been provided up-to-date information regarding the AMS and ORS.

• Provide an AMS/ORS online user guide that contains detailed instructions and general troubleshooting issues. The contractor shall provide the AMS/ORS online user guide within 90 calendar days of period of performance start date.

• Provide a “AMS Quick Start” recorded tutorial to help VA Staff and Stakeholders navigate AMS at a high level. This tutorial will demonstrate the basic features and functionality of the AMS.

• Provide the VA with a set of performance metrics, a methodology to collect the metrics, and a format to report the metrics to senior management to evaluate the success of the Training Strategy and Plan. The contractor shall deliver the Training Strategy and Plan within 60 calendar days of period of performance start date.

• Provide continuous support for the development and updating of the training curriculum and materials. The contractor shall provide informational materials electronically, such as “quick tips” and/or “frequently asked questions” to assist the VA and any VA authorized users.

• Provide live/in-person classroom and/or virtual training sessions over the life of the contract with VA employees and others determined to be stakeholders at a location to be determined (TBD) by the VA, to include all aspects of the AMS and ORS. These training sessions are formal training sessions. Conversations, demonstrations, and discussions surrounding the AMS/ORS system are not considered formal training sessions and shall not result in a charge to the VA. Trainings will be conducted as needed and requested by the VA. The VA will provide 120 calendar days advance notice of the training need.

Training sessions will vary in attendance from 10 to approximately 5,000 participants.

The contractor shall provide the COR with all training materials and a detailed agenda for each session for review and approval at least 30 calendar days prior to the training event.

All training materials from formal training sessions will be made available to all participants at the conclusion of training. If a live/in-person classroom training is requested, all participants that attend virtually will be considered “in person for the purpose of pricing. For example, if fifty (50) participants are attending in person, and fifty-one (51) are attending the same training virtually, pricing will be based on the live/in-person classroom scenario. The contractor shall provide the VA with pricing to reflect the following estimated formal training scenarios:

Live/in-person classroom (10-200 participants) – Location TBD by VA

• Estimated QTY:

• One (1), Base Year,

• One (1), Option Year One (1)

• One (1), Option Year Two (2)

Live/in-person classroom (201-700 participants) – Location TBD by VA

• One (1), Base Year

• One (1), Option Year One (1)

• One (1), Option Year Two (2)

Virtual (real time) training for VA Staff/Stakeholders (10-5,000 participants).

• Five (5), Base Year

• Three (3), Option Year One (1)

• Three (3), Option Year Two (2)

• Three (3), Option Year Three (3)

• Update the AMS/ORS online user guide, all AMS/ORS training/guidance, and recorded tutorials when enhancements or changes to the application occur, and when the VA determines it to be necessary. Updates will occur without cost to the VA. The contractor will ensure all updates are processed within 10 calendar days of enhancement, change, and/or request from VA and made available to all users.

• Ensure all guidance and trainings are 508 compliant and available for use in different mediums.

4.2.1 Training Strategy and Plan (within 60 calendar days of period of performance start date).

Training Strategy and Plan will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than two requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.2.2 AMS/ORS online user guide (within 90 calendar days of period of performance start date).

Updates to be processed within ten (10) calendar days of enhancement, change, and/or request from VA. AMS/ORS online user guide will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.2.3 Provide a “AMS Quick Start” recorded tutorial to help VA Staff and Stakeholders navigate

AMS at a high level. This tutorial will demonstrate the basic functionality and features of the AMS product. Initial tutorial to be provided within 120 calendar days of period of performance start date. AMS Quick Start tutorial will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.2.4 Training curriculum and materials: “quick tips”, “FAQ”, etc. (within 90 calendar days of period of performance start date). Updates to be processed within ten (10) calendar days of enhancement, change, and/or request from VA. Training curriculum and materials will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.2.5 Provide formal live/in-person classroom and/or formal virtual training sessions over the life of the contract to VA stakeholders at location/s determined by the VA.

4.2.6 Training materials and agenda for each formal training session shall be submitted to the

COR for review and approval at least 30 calendar days prior to the requested training event.

4.3 Operational Data Reporting

The AMS/ORS shall provide system, data, analytic, and reporting functionality that supports VA’s capability to benchmark the LGY program to the mortgage, appraisal, and housing industries. The contractor shall provide the operational, analytic, and reporting capability on all AMS/ORS data.

• Ensure all standardized or customized reports required by the VA are completed accurately and provided timely, with adequate IT support devoted to ensuring such timeliness. The contractor shall provide newly requested reports within seven (7) calendar days. The VA will notify the contractor regarding priority-reporting requests and will provide the deadline for completion.

• Establish and maintain a reporting library. The reporting library shall contain elements such as a description of reports, relevant report-related metadata, clear audit trail of the composition of each report, any known issues, and inventory of all recurring reports, formats, and schedules. The contractor shall provide the initial library within 90 calendar days of the period of performance start date. The reporting library is a living document, and the contractor will update as needed or as directed by VA.

• Establish and maintain a data dictionary and relevant metadata for all data elements used in approved and implemented reports. The data dictionary will provide information concerning the AMS/ORS request and response files. The data dictionary shall contain field descriptions, formats, data limitations (such as special characters), etc. for every file, report, or data element sent to VA. The contractor shall provide the initial data dictionary within 90 calendar days of the period of performance start date. The data dictionary is a living document and Contractor will update as needed or as directed by the VA.

• Ensure all records contain the VA’s 12-character Loan Identification Number (LIN) and

7-character Appraiser ID., as well as a property-based key for each parcel being appraised such as latitude/longitude coordinates or other unique property-id indicators with a naming convention established by the VA.

• Provide a dashboard with-real-time data, for all key workload and performance data including, but not limited to:

• Overdue and pending appraisal assignments by state and county.

• Appraiser performance report by state, county and appraiser with accuracy, timeliness, and workload data. Report to include but not limited to benchmarking with peer VA appraisers and non-VA appraisers, mapping of assignment locations, and tracking of resubmissions.

• Appraiser license status. Send an alert to the VA when an appraiser’s state license is nearing expiration (timeframe set by the VA) and another alert if the license becomes expired; suspended or revoked; and verification of appraisal subcommittee to reconcile VA appraisal panel.

• Provide additional, non-real-time data to aid in oversight, tracking, and benchmarking of appraisers and appraisals. Data included but not limited to:

Monthly updates on the average conventional appraisal fee for single family homes, 2-4 family homes, condominiums, and manufactured homes, searchable by county and state. Appraisal fees are measured by what the borrower paid for appraisal services.

• Directly support VA’s efforts to ingest all data, including but not limited to transactional data, performance data, market data, aggregated or created under the terms and conditions of this requirement.

• Directly support VA’s efforts to normalize, analyze, report on, and create dashboards for all data.

• Design, build, and implement an ad-hoc reporting tool for VA staff to run custom reports on all AMS/ORS data.

• Send all data generated/collected by the operational, analytic, and data reporting services and functionality to the VA, per the guidance provided in this PWS and/or approved by the COR.

• Provide an Interactive Automated Evaluation tool that allows VA and Lender appraisal reviewers to select, add, and view comparable sales with automated adjustments made.

• Provide interfaces and system functionality necessary to enable and support the transmission of AMS/ORS data to VA software applications, and data repositories.

• Update the Reporting Library, Data Dictionary, Dashboard, and Ad-hoc reporting tool when enhancements or changes to the application occur, and when the VA determines it to be necessary. Updates will occur without cost to the VA. The contractor will ensure all updates are processed within ten (10) calendar days of enhancement, change, and/or request from VA.

• Provide monthly estimated AVM values with confidence scores on all loans within the

VA portfolio. The VA will provide loan portfolio data to the contractor monthly for review and analysis. The estimated number of monthly AVM values and confidence scores needed is four (4) million, this number is anticipated to fluctuate per month.

4.3.1 All new report requests delivered within seven (7) calendar days.

4.3.2 Reporting Library (within 90 calendar days of period of the performance start date).

Reporting Library will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes.

VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.3.3 Data dictionary (within 90 calendar days of period of the performance start date). Data

Dictionary will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.3.4 Dashboard (within 90 calendar days of period of the performance start date). The

Dashboard will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once initially accepted by VA.

4.3.5 Ad-hoc reporting tool (within 90 calendar days of period of the performance start date). The

Ad-Hoc reporting tool will be continuously updated to reflect mutually agreed upon changes. VA anticipates no more than five requested updates each contract year once

4.3.6 Provide monthly estimated AVM values with confidence scores on all loans within the VA portfolio.

4.4 Appraisal Management Services (AMS) Services

VA currently uses a VA-developed and maintained system, to manage the assignment of appraisals to VA’s fee panel of state-licensed appraisers. Efforts are underway to redesign WebLGY and it is anticipated that another system environment will likely replace all legacy systems over the next few years.

VA assigns appraisals on a strict rotational basis to individual appraisers on its fee panel. The VA will continue to administer and manage its own fee panel independently. The VA does not and will not consider the use of Appraisal Management Companies to manage its fee panel. The management of the VA fee panel will be the responsibility of the VA staff.

• Deliver an AMS COTS product at the period of performance start date. The implementation of AMS shall encompass the design and integration of these services into WebLGY within 90 calendar days of the period of the performance start date. AMS will interface with WebLGY for the exchange of assignment and results. AMS will be configurable to meet the needs of the VA as specified in this PWS.

• Ensure updates to AMS COTS product will occur without cost to the VA. Contractor will ensure all updates are processed within ten (10) calendar days of enhancement, change,…