Real Estate Title Services

Disregard any mention of the word 'construction' or the phrase 'horizontal construction' in any attachment to this sources sought synopsis. That was purely a Government error that is now corrected by this synopsis amendment.

The solicitation number for the Title Services RFP will be W9126G-19-R-0061.

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A. The following are prospective offeror questions and the Government responses to these questions:

Q1 - Will the title services firm have to be able to perform services in both judicial and non-judicial states?
A1 - While there are states that are considered Judicial or Non-Judicial, counties actually have authority to determine how they handle court actions of mortgage (Judicial) vs simple filings of Deed of Trust (Non-Judicial). Our research requirement will entail full research of all records, regardless of method, and should also include documentation, such as Commissioner's court minutes in determining status of roads (e.g., Public vs Private). The Government is looking for a definitive body of title work that will support court action of Federal condemnation, should that be necessary.

Q2 - Are there any preferred certifications or affiliations that the title services firm should hold?
A2 - The Government would prefer companies owned by, or employing, Registered Professional Landman (RPL) or Certified Professional Landman (CPL).

Q3 - Will title service firms with employed and active attorneys be preferred in the selection process?
A3 - Preference is for active attorneys as they are a must-have in the process.

B. Speed, responsiveness and accuracy are absolute requirements of the winning contractor. These 3 skillsets/characteristics will be evaluated during the selection process under the Technical Experience evaluation factor. These 3 skillsets/characteristics will also be evaluated periodically after the contract is awarded to determine a Past Performance rating for the contractor.

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SOURCES SOUGHT SYNOPSIS
For
Real Estate Title Services
USACE, Southwestern Division, Fort Worth District (SWF) Contracting Directorate

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Southwestern Division, Border Infrastructure Project Management Office (BI-PMO) has an acquisition requirement for real estate title services requiring the solicitation and award of a contractual tool(s) in support of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs. The proposed acquisition will be firm fixed price, and may be indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts, blanket purchase agreements or another contractual tool deemed appropriate for the requirement. Government market research will determine the type of business set-asides that will be utilized in the resultant Request for Proposals (RFP).

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT announcement which, at this stage, is only a market research survey to obtain information for preliminary acquisition planning purposes. THIS IS NOT A SOLICITATION FOR PROPOSALS, AND NO CONTRACT OR AGREEMENT WILL BE AWARDED FROM THIS SYNOPSIS. THEREFORE, NO PROPOSALS ARE REQUIRED AT THIS TIME. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this synopsis or any follow-up information requests. Respondents will not be notified of the results of this Sources Sought or resulting market research.

The purpose of this synopsis is to maximize practicable competition by gaining knowledge of interest, capabilities and qualifications of various members of industry, to include firms of the small business community under the following programs: Small Business, Section 8(a), Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZone), Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

The Contract or Agreement Period of Performance (POP) term is to be determined, but will likely be for a total of five (5) years (a base year and 4 option years thereafter). The total contract or agreement ordering capacity will be approximately $50M for the entire 5-year POP. The proposed maximum value of a task (or call) order is $1.5M, and the proposed minimum value of a task (or call) order is $2K. The average task order amount will be around $300K. It is estimated that up to seven task (or call) orders could be on-going simultaneously. The actual minimum and maximum task order size, socio-economic set-asides, geographic boundaries (anticipated to be Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California) and specific acquisition strategy for the resultant contract(s) or agreement(s) will be determined after an analysis of the capabilities statements received in response to this sources sought and through other market research tools.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this procurement is 524127, Title Abstract and Settlement Offices, which has a small business size standard of $38.5M.

Small Business and 8(a) concerns are reminded that, under the FAR 52.219-14 Limitations on Subcontracting clause for services-type procurements, that they must self-perform at least 50% of the cost of contract performance incurred and that that 50% shall be expended for employees of the concern.

Prior Government contract work is not required for submitting a response under this sources sought synopsis.

Currently, the proposed proposal evaluation methodology to be used for this procurement is best value tradeoff source selection procedures in accordance with FAR 15.101-1.

Anticipated RFP issuance date is on or about 25 August 2019. The official synopsis citing the solicitation number will be issued on Federal Business Opportunities (www.fbo.gov). Accordingly, the Government invites firms to register electronically in order to receive a copy of the solicitation when it is issued.

Responses to this Synopsis shall be limited to the completed Sources Sought Capabilities Statement form included as an attachment to this Sources Sought and any company brochure provided by the prospective offeror.

Interested Firms shall respond to this Sources Sought Synopsis no later than 15 February 2019. All interested firms must be registered at www.sam.gov to be eligible for award of Government contracts. Please email your response to border.infrastructure@usace.army.mil, benjamin.j.aldrich@usace.army.mil and mary.j.harding3@usace.army.mil.

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