Financial Services, Debt Collections

The City of St. Petersburg, Florida is seeking proposals for debt collection services through RFP #25-048, targeting accounts that are 60+ days past due across multiple municipal departments. The procurement is specifically for a three-year contract with an optional two-year renewal period. Qualified firms must provide comprehensive debt collection services, including recovery of accounts from utilities, invoices, alarms, parking, codes, marina, and Jamestown services. Proposers must demonstrate extensive capabilities in collection technologies, network security, accounting processes, records retention, and credit reporting mechanisms. The evaluation criteria will weight vendor selection across several categories: experience of firm (10%), qualifications and technical competencies (20%), capacity to accomplish work (20%), past performance (30%), and contingency rate (14%). Key proposal requirements include a detailed submittal with sections covering team composition, personnel qualifications, project methodology, recovery rates, and implementation practices. The RFP was released on January 24, 2025, with questions due by February 18, 2025, and final proposal responses required electronically by February 27, 2025, at 3:00 pm.

Vendors must meet specific minimum qualifications, including being in business for at least five years and maintaining required insurance levels. Additional points are available for certified Small Business Enterprises (SBE), Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), and Women Business Enterprises (WBE). The current estimated annual expenditure is approximately $120,000, with a total listed accounts value of $2,325,803.30 for fiscal year 2024. Proposers must operate in full compliance with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and provide monthly remittance statements and credit reporting for accounts over $50. Required insurance coverage includes commercial general liability ($1M per occurrence), commercial automobile liability ($1M), workers' compensation, fidelity/crime insurance ($1M), and errors & omissions/professional liability insurance ($1M). The City reserves the right to terminate the contract with 30 days' notice and expects contractors to maintain competitive pricing comparable to other customers receiving similar services. Historically, Forest Recovery Services has been a previous contractor, with annual revenue collections ranging from $96,000 to $137,000 across various municipal service categories.