Illinois Housing Development Authority Court Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP) Application and Grant Payment

Management Software (25-551HDA-INFOT-B-48900) Vendor Questions and Answers

1. Will offshore resources be allowed?

IHDA is seeking a software solution, not services. If there is work to be done by the vendor, IHDA will accept work to be done offshore.

2. Are there interactions between systems?

See Section A.1.10 of the solicitation.

3. What is the relationship between this program and the DHS prevention program?

This is a standalone program and does not overlap/interact with the DHS Homeless Prevention Program.

4. Is there an opportunity to look at sample data? In the RFP?

We do not have any sample data to share.

5. Is there a way to bookmark RFP?

No. When searching the bid, use “48900” only in the search field. Contact the BidBuy Help Desk at il.bidbuy@illinois.gov or 866-455-2897 for technical assistance regarding BidBuy.

6. How many payments are made. Can it be made through the system?

6,000 to 10,000 payments per year, payments cannot be made through the current system.

7. Provide clarification regarding the 300 processors.

300 processors is a maximum, internally we currently have around 50 concurrent users. See Section B.2 of the solicitation.

8. Has IHDA established a budgetary range or funding cap for this initiative (initial implementation + 4-year support)?

Per the solicitation, Section A.4.2, the resulting contract will have an initial term of 2 years with four 2 year renewal terms. The budget will be shared with the awarded vendor after contract execution.

mailto:il.bidbuy@illinois.gov

9. Does IHDA have a preferred cloud hosting provider (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) or is the vendor free to propose any compliant FedRAMP/ILCS-aligned platform?

Azure

10. Is the vendor expected to initiate payments directly (via payment gateway), or only process and transmit payment files to IHDA’s financial systems?

Process and transmit payment files to IHDA’s 3rd party provider systems (Wells Fargo). See Section A.1. 10 and Section F.1.36 of the solicitation.

11. If payment gateway integration is required, does IHDA have a preferred gateway provider?

Not Applicable, a payment gateway is not required. See question 10.

12. Beyond Oracle Financials, Encompass, and Wells Fargo, are there other business/financial systems that must be integrated?

No. Encompass is the system we use to initiate and track payments. Ideally the new solution will have this functionality integrated and therefore Encompass would no longer be needed. See Section A.1. 10 and Section F.1.36 of the solicitation.

13. Will IHDA provide APIs for these financial/partner systems, or should the vendor propose the integration approach?

Vendors should propose. We are open to both API and formatted data import proposals. See Section A.1. 10 and Section F.1.36 of the solicitation.

14. Does IHDA currently own or prefer an ETL tool (e.g., Talend, Informatica, SSIS)?

We do not own or prefer any ETL tool. We can utilize the tool suggested or provided by vendors.

15. Does IHDA own or prefer an Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) for integrations, or should vendors propose?

Vendors should propose.

16. Does IHDA use or expect vendors to use an EDI tool for data exchange with external systems?

Vendors should propose. See question 13.

17. Does IHDA currently use or prefer a specific Enterprise Document Management System (EDMS), or should vendors propose one?

18. Does IHDA have a preferred eSignature platform (e.g., DocuSign, Adobe Sign) or should vendors propose a compliant solution?

We do use DocuSign but remain open to other options within the vendor’s proposal.

19. Can IHDA confirm whether data migration should include case histories from prior rental assistance programs (e.g., ERAP), or only new CBRAP data?

Data migration should just be new CBRAP data. See question 85 for more details regarding data for prior programs.

20. Can IHDA share the technology stack of these legacy systems?

Mongo DB Atlas

21. What is the volume of structured data to be migrated (record counts, size in GB/TB)? From how many systems, and what DB platforms are used?

We will want to migrate new CBRAP data only from proposed platform to IHDA servers; not planning to migrate legacy data.

22. Are there known data quality issues (duplicates, missing values, mismatched IDs)? If so, will IHDA share profiling results with vendors?

Not applicable

23. What is the estimated document volume to migrate (count, storage size), what file formats are used (PDF, Word, TIFF, etc.), and how is metadata stored (DB vs file system)?

Not applicable

24. Retention requirement: 5 years after the end of program(s).

Question: Beyond this requirement, does IHDA anticipate archiving older historical data? If so, how many years, and must archived data be viewable within the modernized application?

No. See response to question #21 for further clarification.

25. Could IHDA provide expected annual growth rates for users and data?

Year over year, we are anticipating the program to be the same size that we have today. The size of the program is based on the State budget allocation.

26. Can IHDA provide an estimated breakdown of users across roles (e.g., tenants, landlords, staff processors, QA/cure reviewers, admins, finance team)?

Tenants (Access to submit tenant version of application, view status of past applications, upload additional documentation to active applications):

10,000-20,000 per year Landlords (Access to submit landlord version of application, view status of past applications, upload additional documentation to active applications):

8,000-15,000 per year Call Center (Read only, except able to leave comments/notes in files): 10 (up to 50) Staff Processors (Able to claim submitted applications, upload documents, change statuses, manipulate application data fields): 20 (up to 100) Supervisors (Staff processor abilities + able to review & audit staff processor pipelines, able to move files between staff pipelines): 3-5 (up to 10) QA/Compliance Reviewers (Same access as Supervisors): 10 (up to 25) Admins (Same access as Supervisors + account creation/closure/permission changes and make basic application changes):

About 3-5 Auditor (Full access but no writing privileges): 3 (Up to 10)

27. Will external partners (e.g., community organizations, court liaisons) require access to any modules or dashboards?

No

28. Does IHDA already use an enterprise Identity Provider (IdP) to enable SSO and MFA (e.g., Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Ping Identity)? If so, please confirm the IdP name.

Yes, We use Azure EntraID for MFA/SSO

29. Is the February 2026 contract start date and July 2026 go-live date fixed, or flexible depending on implementation complexity?

The schedule can be found in Section A.3 of the solicitation. Per Section A.3, all dates listed are subject to change at the sole discretion of IHDA.

30. Can vendors propose a phased rollout (e.g., pilot court districts first, statewide later), or is statewide go-live expected in July 2026?

Statewide go-live expected in July 2026. See Section A.3 of the solicitation.

31. Approximately how many IHDA staff and processors require training at go-live?

32. Does IHDA prefer in-person training, virtual sessions, or recorded e-learning modules?

Virtual sessions supplemented by recorded e-learning modules

33. Does IHDA currently own or prefer a Learning Management System (LMS), or should vendors propose options if training modules are required?

34. Is Power BI mandated, or may vendors propose alternative analytics/reporting tools? If Power BI is required, will IHDA provide licenses, or should vendors include licensing in pricing?

Power BI is preferred but not opposed to other suitable tools. IHDA has Power BI licenses. See Section A.2 of the solicitation.

35. Are there predefined reporting templates required/available for State oversight, Federal reporting, or auditors? Can IHDA share them?

No, predefined templates are not available.

36. Beyond English and Spanish, does IHDA anticipate requiring additional language support (e.g., Polish, Mandarin, etc.) either at go-live or in future phases?

No. See Section A.2 of the solicitation.

37. Does IHDA require native mobile apps (iOS, Android), or would a responsive web app/PWA meet requirements?

Mandatory Requirement F.1.42 has been removed. Please see updated Mandatory Requirement F.1.41.

38. Is IHDA expecting a dedicated vendor help desk team post go-live, or will an SLA-based ticketing/email/phone model be sufficient?

SLA-based ticketing/email/phone model would be sufficient after the warranty support.

39. Should support hours be 24x7 for all user groups (tenants, landlords, IHDA staff), or just for IHDA staff?

IHDA Staff Only

40. SLA Commitments: RFP requires 99.9% uptime. Can IHDA confirm expectations around service credits or penalties for SLA breaches?

To be provided by the Vendor. See Section F.3.14 of the solicitation.

41. Disaster Recovery (RTO/RPO): RFP requests vendors to define RTO/RPO Does IHDA have target thresholds (e.g., RTO < 4 hours, RPO < 15 min)?

RTO for payments – 5 business days RTO for program reviews of applications – 5 business days RTO for program application – 48 hours RTO for database – 48 hours RPO < 1 hour

42. Should licensing be proposed on a named-user, concurrent-user, or enterprise model?

Please refer to the pricing document attached in BidBuy.

43. Will IHDA require vendor-hosted infrastructure only, or is there a preference for hosting within State-managed cloud environments?

Vendor-hosted infrastructure

44. Please confirm whether a Business Enterprise Program (BEP) utilization plan and/or Veteran Small Business Enterprise (VSBE) participation plan is mandatory for this procurement.

This solicitation does not have a BEP goal or Veteran Small Business goal.

See the General Tab of the solicitation in BidBuy.

45. If mandatory, what’s the weightage for the same? Also clarify if it is sufficient to state intent and submit forms with the proposal, or must subcontractors already be identified?

See response to question 44.

46. Must vendors submit the SOC 2 Type 2 certification with the proposal response, or can it be provided post-award on an annual basis as indicated?

Per Mandatory Requirement F.2.1, the vendor must provide a copy of their most recent SOC2 Type 2 and Bridge Letter with their proposal. The awarded vendor must also provide these on at least an annual basis after contract execution at the Authority’s request.

47. With reference to “vendor-disclosure-formerly-forms-a-v26-2-7-22-2025” , Is the

ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PUBLIC CONTRACT NUMBER

applicable for IT service provider as this number is applicable only for construction companies?

An Illinois Department of Human Rights Public Contract Number is required for any contract where the vendor has 15 or more employees. It is not only applicable for construction or construction related services. See Section C.1 and section D.2 of the solicitation.

48. With reference to “vendor-disclosure-formerly-forms-a-v26-2-7-22-2025” , Is the

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST mandatory to be filled even if the vendor is not doing any business in the State of Illinois?

Financial Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest must be submitted with your proposal. Failure to submit Financial Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest will result in your proposal being deemed non-responsive and disqualified from further consideration. See Section C.1 and section D.2 of the solicitation.

49. Do you expect this to be a product offering (COTS), or can it be a solution that we build specifically for the IHDA’s requirements?

We prefer an off the shelf solution

50. Who is the incumbent vendor currently providing these services?

Unqork

51. Is the incumbent vendor allowed to participate in this RFP?

Yes, the incumbent vendor can submit a proposal in response to this RFP.

52. Can you describe in more detail the current pain points with your existing systems beyond the payment process, timeline alerts, file uploads, and support issues already mentioned?

Some of the current pain points had to do with inconsistent formatting within fields, inability to have access to all fields for reporting, integrations with 3rd party systems, lack of live metrics/dashboards and in-ability to make changes to front end of systems with vendor support.

53. What is the most common reason tenants/landlords fail to complete applications today?

We do not have data or metrics on unfinished applications. Some applicants find the application challenging to complete in one sitting due number of inputs and documents that need to be uploaded at different points in the application.

54. Who will be responsible for hosting?

Vendor

55. What is the hosting preference – Cloud vs On-prem?

Cloud

56. What hosting provider is currently being used for the current system, and will the awarded vendor be expected to continue with this provider or propose and manage a new hosting environment?

Unqork is the provider, and we prefer the new vendor to manage a new hosting environment.

57. What is your preferred hosting service provider (AWS or Azure)?

Azure

58. Do you have any streaming data sources? If yes, please mention in detail.

59. Who are the primary stakeholders collaborating with the vendor, and what are their roles?

IHDA staff: program administration, IT support, and finance

60. What are the expectations and timeline for ongoing support and maintenance after the system implemented?

Post- go live hyper care + ongoing ticket based support

61. Do you expect the vendor to perform any tasks on-site, or can all work be performed remotely?

Remote

62. Do you accept off-shore resources?

done by the vendor, IHDA will accept work be done offshore.

63. What is the approved budget or range allocated for this project?

The budget will be shared with the awarded vendor following contract execution.

64. “Vendor must be SOC2 Type 2 Certified. Vendor must provide a copy of their most recent SOC2 Type 2 and Bridge Letter.” Is it mandatory that the vendor to submit the certification at the time of proposal submission?

Per Mandatory Requirement F.2.1, the vendor must provide a copy of their most recent SOC2 Type 2 and Bridge Letter with their proposal.

65. F.1.36: To confirm, the vendor is required to provide APIs or file import/export capabilities compatible with 3rd party systems (e.g., Oracle, Encompass, Wells Fargo), but is not expected to build and manage a standalone third-party payment portal for processing funds or payments to and from those systems - is that correct? F.1.39: Does the vendor have flexibility in choosing what Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) or Single Sign-On (SSO) systems to use? Are there specific MFA/SSO systems that IHDA wants to use?

F.1.36: correct, F.1.39: IHDA Uses Azure EntraID for MFA/SSO

66. F.1.42: Would a 100%-mobile-native web application (not an “App” from an app-store) that can receive custom-defined applications from the public satisfy the requirements of F.1.42?

Mandatory Requirement F.1.42 has been removed. Please see updated Mandatory Requirement F.1.41.

67. F.1.46: Could you provide examples of third-party reporting tools that the vendor is expected to integrate or connect into?

Power-BI

68. Commitment to Diversity: If the vendor has undergone organizational changes since the prior calendar year (2024), would it be acceptable for the vendor to provide more recent subcontracting and staffing information as of this year (2025)?

Responses should be provided pursuant to the instruction in the Commitment to Diversity answer form.

69. How many different application versions need to be supported? Can you provide examples of each version?

Two active applications at a time – one tenant, one landlord. See Section A.1.4 of the solicitation.

70. Do you have an existing or preferred provider for address validation services?

No preference, open to vendor suggestions, currently using Google LOB

71. Is the multi-lingual support only needed for the external portal or is this also a requirement for the internally facing portion of the solution used by IHDA staff?

External only. See Section A.1.3 of the solicitation.

72. Does IHDA have an existing or preferred translation service that should be used?

73. How many templated emails are available?

74. How many programs will need to be supported?

One program per fiscal year, with data retention requirements of a minimum of 5 years per program

75. Does IHDA have an existing or preferred authentication provider for the external applicants to authenticate into the portal?

Standard authentication methods

76. Does IHDA have an existing or preferred e-signature service that should be used?

IHDA uses DocuSign, but we are open to vendor suggestions

77. How many applications are processed monthly on average?

Approximately 2500 files per month (includes approval, denial, and duplicate outcomes). See Section B.2 of the solicitation. While current average volumes are approximately 2500, the procurement volumes require the ability to support 5000 concurrent.

78. How many reports are used today that will need to be in the new solution

There really aren’t any standardized reports, although having access to all fields being entered/updated will be the key driver in establishing reports.

See Section A.1.9 and section F.1.43 of the solicitation.

79. What payment system should be integrated with the new solution? Is there an API available for the systems?

Desire is to have the payment processing capabilities within the proposed platform. No API available.

80. Is Oracle, Encompass and Wells Fargo the only 3 system integrations for the new system?

Yes, at most. Currently Encompass is our payment processing system and the desire is to have that functionality replaced in the proposed platform.

81. What functionality does Encompass provide IHDA?

All pre-approved files are imported from our application processing system into Encompass. These pre-approved files have a final QC review, and the payment is initiated via an export. That export is sent to Wells Fargo who processes the payment in the form of a check. Wells Fargo then returns the check activity data (sent date, cashed date or void date) which is imported into Encompass to monitor the payments. Any additional payments or reissues are also initiated out of Encompass. Encompass data is used to manually reconcile with accounting (GL) and finance (bank/cash) data.

82. Please provide more details on what “generate payment request” means? Does this mean integrate with a 3rd party payment processor, generate a file that is then imported to another system for payment processing, the new system should generate the actual check or process the payment or something else?

The system should generate a file that is sent to Wells Fargo for payment processing. See question 81 for more information about the data exchange between Wells Fargo.

83. Is managing inbound calls, tracking cases from the center in scope? If yes, what functionality should be included for the call center?

84. Does IHDA have a preferred reporting and analytics tool or one they are already licensed for currently? (i.e. Power BI)

Power BI. See Section A.1 of the solicitation.

85. Will data need to be migrated from both legacy systems? If so, can you provide details regarding existing data sources: Database type, number of tables, number of fields, number of records that will need to be migrated?

Open to vendor proposal, the number of data sources, fields, and views would be determined by the vendor’s proposed solution. The desire to migrate legacy data would be to be able to link new applications to old application data via certain data points (address, email, IP, etc.) for compliance purposes. Legacy data would not need to be viewable as a current application within the proposed system.

86. Section D.4 describes the scoring for Commitment to Diversity and BEP Compliance, but refers to Section F.4 for the actual goal of this particular solicitation. We do not see a goal listed within Section F.4 or within the bid package. It was mentioned during the pre-bid that there is no BEP goal for this solicitation. Can you confirm if there is a BEP goal? Please define.

There is no BEP goal on this solicitation. Per the Commitment to Diversity Answer Form I., if there is no BEP goal the 5 points will be automatically awarded. Because there is no BEP goal on this solicitation, vendors should check the box that states “Bid has no BEP goal”.

87. Is IHDA open to solutions that are hosted within IHDA’s (or State of IL) cloud domain or is required the vendor host the system?

See question 54

88. Are non-US based resources permitted to work on the engagement?

done by the vendor, IHDA will accept work be done offshore.

89. Is there an existing budget allocated for this project? Please clarify if that budget is expected to cover all costs including software licensing, implementation services, integrations (Oracle, Wells Fargo, Power BI, USPS validation), training, hosting, and ongoing support for the full contract term (initial 2 years plus potential renewals)?

Yes there is a budget, yes it is expected to cover all costs.

90. Can IHDA confirm whether the system will initially be used only for the Court Based Rental Assistance Program (CBRAP), or if additional grant programs/funding types are expected to be included during implementation or future phases?

The platform will be used initially for CBRAP.

91. Although only CBRAP is mentioned as the initial program, the RFP references multiple workflows (tenant-initiated, landlord-initiated, QA, cure). Can IHDA confirm the expected number of unique workflows at go-live?

These are all necessary workflows to run CBRAP, less than 10 are expected but would prefer flexibility to expand based on needs of program.

92. Does IHDA expect third-party costs (e.g., Oracle Financials integration, Wells Fargo ACH, Power BI licenses, USPS validation API) to be included in the proposal pricing, or will these be managed separately by IHDA?

93. How many internal IHDA staff, processors, QA reviewers, and external stakeholders (tenants, landlords, auditors) are expected to require user accounts at launch and at full deployment? Please provide an estimated breakdown by role.

See question 26

94. Will IHDA require read-only access accounts for auditors and oversight agencies, or full licensed user accounts?

Read-only for oversight

95. Please clarify whether existing applicant, financial, or program data will need to be migrated into the new system. If so, how many records, formats (e.g., spreadsheets, databases), and approximate data fields should vendors plan for conversion?

See answer to question 85

96. Will historical records need to be imported for continuity, or will the new system be used only for new applications moving forward? If so, how many years of historic data?

See answer to question 85

97. What volume of applications per year is anticipated across all eviction-related rental assistance programs?

Approximately 25,000 applications per year, this includes unmatched tenant and landlord applications. See Section B.2 of the solicitation. While current average volumes are approximately 25000 per year, the procurement volumes require the ability to support 5000 concurrent.

98. Beyond Oracle, Encompass, Wells Fargo, and Power BI — are there any other systems IHDA expects to integrate with for payments, financials, reporting, or program management?

See question 12

99. Does IHDA expect the vendor to provide an integrated GIS/mapping tool for location-based eligibility, or will existing State/County GIS services feed into the system?

Vendor

100. Should the system support single sign-on (SSO) with IHDA’s existing Identity Provider (e.g., Azure AD, Okta)?

See question 28

101. Can IHDA provide examples of standard reports required (e.g., program performance, financial reconciliation)?

See question 35

102. In the pre-proposal conference, you indicated that there were 300 processors at the height of COVID, but there could be less now. Can you provide a total number of users who will actively manage cases and tasks, work directly with applicants, or manage the staff working on applicant files?

See questions 7 and 26

103. Are vendors allowed to include a pricing narrative outside of the pricing form?

Or should pricing information be limited to the State’s form?

Pricing must be submitted in the format found in the pricing document.

104. How much has the State allocated for one-time vs ongoing costs?

Budget established. Will not be shared.

105. Roughly how many payments are being made each year?

See question 6

106. Is the State open to payments coming directly from the system?

No, See question 10

107. Regarding Interfaces in Section A.1.10, is the State open to leveraging a data warehouse for submitting queries to populate data into a third-party system in lieu of an API?

IHDA is open to hear recommendations from Vendor

108. The document “Offer to the State of Illinois” isn’t viewable, can you reshare? I get the same error code when i try to download it directly from this page as well :

Solicitation and Contract Templates and Forms

109. Does the Agency currently leverage an e-signature solution and/or have a preference (e.g. DocuSign, Adobe Sign)?

See question 76

110. Section A, Item 7 Application Processing. Are the 300 application processors all internal agency users? If not, please provide an overview of the partners being used.

See questions 7 and 26

111. Section A, Item 9 Reporting. Please list the 3rd party reporting tools and technologies the proposed solution is required to make a direct connection with.

112. Section A, Item 10 Interfaces. We can confirm that integration capabilities exist as requested. What integrations are specifically in scope for this effort?

113. Section A.2 Desired Outcomes of this Project/Engagement. Is the Solution required to make payments directly or integration with existing payment solution(s)? Elaborate requirements for the proposed solution to generate payment requests through check or ACH and payment tracking?

See questions 79,81 and 82.

114. Section B.2 Volumes & Quantities. What is the expected volume of applications received per month/year?

See questions 77 and 97 https://cpo-general.illinois.gov/solicitation-and-contract-templates.html

115. Contract Requirements F.1.24. Our solution, EYGA, is built upon the Microsoft Dynamics and the Power Platform. Since the State of Illinois already has several Dynamics and Power Platform projects in the State of Illinois Microsoft tenant, we would recommend following this model to maximize value and allow the agency to be able to take advantage of any existing Microsoft licensing and tenant structure already in place, thereby reducing overall solution costs and risks. To align with the state’s security and compliance standards, is the agency willing to allow the solution to be deployed in the state’s Microsoft tenant, subject to standard governance and access controls?

Yes, we’re amenable to this approach

116. Contract Requirements F.1.46. our solution is built upon Microsoft Dynamics and the Power Platform. Microsoft does not provide direct SQL/database access to the underlying Dataverse database that supports Power Platform by design for security and platform integrity. Microsoft does provide secure APS and connectors for data and reporting needs. Is this solution acceptable?

Yes, it is acceptable

117. Are there any data migration requirements to be included with this effort?

See question 19

118. Would the Agency consider extending the RFP submission deadline by two weeks?

Please see BidBuy for any amendments to the RFP extending the due date for proposals.