R--This is a pre-solicitation notice for land title closing, and title insurance services for new VA replacement Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.

SCOPE OF WORK FOR TITLE SEARCH AND CLOSING SERVICES FOR UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFIARS I. OBJECTIVE The objective of this Scope of Work (SOW) is to obtain a title search, preliminary title commitment, final title policy and closing services for acquisitions of real property interest, including but not limited to fee simple, leasehold, right of ways and easements on behalf of the United States of America, acting by and through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA is acquiring property from Louisiana State University on behalf of the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans for a new VA Medical Center in New Orleans. Simultaneous to this acquisition, VA will sell land at improvements known as the VA Medical Center at New Orleans, at no cost to the City of New Orleans. VA anticipates that there will no monetary consideration paid to any of the grantors for the parcels in this transaction. VA will be acquiring 194 residential parcels of land and 5 commercial parcels as indicated on the 8 survey pages done by Landsource, Inc. dated 12-07-2009 and attached to this SOW. VA will also be acquiring the interior streets of this site, which will be accomplished by the City of New Orleans revoking the rights of ways on these streets and then deeding/giving the interior streets to VA. The interior streets are Bank Street, Palmyra Avenue and Cleveland Avenue and VA will acquire these streets from S. Galvez Street (on the east end) to S. Rochblave Street (on the west end). II. SCOPE The Contractor shall coordinate and facilitate the following services, same as in a commercial transaction, including obtaining and recording deeds, and any necessary curative instruments to assure merchantable insurable title, at regular rates, to the property in the name of the United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs ("Services"), including: 1. conducting a diligent search of the records; 2. considering the character and value of the property to be acquired; 3. obtaining and updating chain of title including copies of all instruments which created rights, interests or encumbrances on the property, legal descriptions, easement boundary and ingress/egress descriptions; 4. furnishing and delivering Owner's Guarantee (Insurance) Policies or Certificates of Title and Continuations thereof in the form of preliminary, interim or final policies, certificates of title, interim binders, or endorsements, as appropriate, as set forth on the Schedule to which these specifications are attached; 5. obtaining signatures on Deed(s); obtaining signatures on easement(s); 6. obtaining signatures on Right of Ways and Limited Lien Waiver(s); 7. working with the State of Louisiana to clear exceptions on title to the property, and other services as necessary to finalize the transaction Except where certificates are clearly referred to separately, all references hereinafter to "Policies" and "Continuations" shall apply to the forms of title evidence specified by said Schedule. Without regard, to the attached schedule, the preference for insuring documents is Policies and Preliminary Policies (or Certificates only where this is the prevailing local practice. The VA will not accept delivery of certificates except where the Contractor's title insurance company does not issue policies for any lands located in the State of Louisiana. III. STANDARDS AND RESPONSIBILITIES The Contractor is responsible for having a current knowledge of the requirements of the laws of State Louisiana in connection with title searches, closing real estate transactions, title clearance and all other Services described herein. The title insurance company and their issuing agents must comply with the laws of State of Louisiana, including title insurance reserves requirements. The Contractor must be licensed to do title insurance business in State of Louisiana and must be approved by the Insurance Commissioner of State of Louisiana. The Contractor will provide evidence of liability insurance coverage for errors and omissions in the amount of at least $1,000,000 or provide an indemnification agreement from the title insurance for which the Contractor will close the transaction(s) satisfactory to VA providing for reimbursement to VA for any loss caused by fraud or dishonesty, or failure by the attorneys, agents, or employees of the Contractor to comply with VA's' written closing instructions. The ALTA Closing Protection Letter Revised 3/27/87 is satisfactory to meet this condition of responsibility. Evidence of liability must be provided prior to award. IV. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES The contractor shall obtain and provide to the Government: I. Copies of all instruments which created rights, interests, Right of Ways, Easements and/or encumbrances on the proposed t property, and disclose the names of each person with the interest in the property II. A chain of title including all deeds referenced in the chain of title III. Preliminary Title Commitment - The title commitment shall commit to issuing the final title policy to the "United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs" on the 1991 ALTA U. S. Policy forms. IV. If acquiring an easement or right of way/ Preliminary Title Commitment - The title commitment must cover both the easement (right of way) area and access for ingress an egress, and must commit to issuing the final title policy to the "United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs" on the 1991 ALTA U. S. Policy forms. V. Where there has been a severance of the surface and subsurface of the land, the report shall include the nature of the interest severed, the name of the owner, and an address. If a severance has occurred there may be multiple acquisitions pertaining to the same tract of land. In the event the contractor has furnished a Final Policy covering acquisition of the surface owner's interest in the land, the VA reserves the right to order Intermediate Policies and Final Policies covering the acquisition of the outstanding minerals underlying the same tract. The Contractor shall be paid for such Intermediate and Final Policies at the appropriate unit prices set forth in the schedule. VI. The title search will be for a sufficient period of time, of not less than 80 years, for the title company to insure the title without objectionable exceptions, and will determine all owners of record, outstanding mortgages, liens, judgments or pending suits, outstanding tax claims, easements or rights of ways of any type, whether oil, gas, and mineral interests have been severed, and any other exceptions that may cloud the title of the easement to be purchased. Title Search services shall be provided within 30 business days of receiving the request from VA. The contractor will be provided with: the name and address of landowner. The preliminary title commitment shall contain sufficient information concerning defects, liens, encumbrances, and other matters excepted, to enable an attorney examining the policy to determine the nature and extent of such exceptions and their probable effect on the validity of the title to the land described. It shall also state or be accompanied by a report specifying the evidence or action, if any, which will be acceptable to the corporation issuing the policy, as a basis for the issuance of a Continuation deleting each such defect, lien, encumbrance, and other matter from the Title Policy. VII. There may or may not be a central land records office that holds records of all land transactions within that office's jurisdiction. The title search conducted hereunder shall be conducted at all land records depositories to include but not be limited to, land records offices, notaries, tax offices, assessment offices, and other holders of land records in State of Louisiana. VIII. Prepare, advise and assist in the preparation of the Deeds. Upon receipt of the preliminary title commitment, the VA will review documents and consult with the Contractor regarding title issues that must be cleared. Once all title issues have been cleared, or agreement is reached with lien holders to subordinate their interests, VA may perform additional due diligence investigations and may subsequently accept the offer to sell from the landowner, thereby contracting to purchase the land. VA shall notify Contractor when VA contracts to purchase the land. VA shall, if it has not done so previously, order a metes and bounds boundary survey to ALTA standards of the proposed land area. Once the ALTA boundary survey has been completed, it will be provided to the Contractor for their use in developing the final legal description to be used on the General Warranty Deed. The Contractor will be required to obtain the execution of such items as releases, full or partial satisfactions of mortgages, subordinations, lien waivers, affidavits of material and workmen's liens, child support, and various types of releases of encumbrances on the property. Upon completion, the Contractor will forward the following documents to the respective VA Office via electronic transmission: " Chain of title including copies of all deeds referenced in the title chain and discloses the name of each person in whom title to any interest in vested of record and all additional parties or entities who might have, or who claim to have an interest in the property. " Copies of all exceptions, easements and right of ways on title. " Subordination Agreement(s), Limited Lien Waiver(s), or other documentation as applicable " Title Commitment, Original (plus one copy) " General Warranty Deed (ready for execution) " A closing statement showing costs incurred by all parties to the transaction Upon receipt of the above documents, VA will forward the preliminary title commitment and other related documentation to the Department of Justice and/or Office of General Counsel (DOJ/OGC) for a Preliminary Title Opinion (PTO). If any outstanding issues remain, VA will work with DOJ and may require Contractor to cure additional exceptions in order to close on the transactions. The closing services will be performed in the Municipality in which the property to be acquired is located, unless the Contractor and landowner mutually agree to a different location. The Contractor will not close any transaction or record deeds or other instruments prior to receiving prior written instruction from VA. The Contractor will not be responsible for the payment or transfer of funds for the actual purchase of the property interest. VA will handle all monetary transactions directly with the landowner for the real property acquisition. The Contractor will close the transaction, record the deeds and other instruments as necessary, and insure that the following have occurred: 1. No new encumbrances have been recorded against the subject property since the date of the title commitment. If any new encumbrances have been recorded against the subject property since the date of the title commitment, the Contractor will immediately notify the VA point of contact and will not proceed until further instructions are received. 2. Receipt, execution, and recordation of the General Warranty Deed and/or other form of Deed from the landowner. 3. All exceptions required to be removed, released, subordinated, waived or otherwise handled as set forth in the Preliminary Title Opinion from DOJ/OGC have been completed and the applicable clearance documents recorded. All other requirements in the PTO and closing instructions have been met. 4. All taxes, assessments, etc., are paid to the date that the Deed is recorded. 5. Comply with any listed title commitment or binder requirements. The Contractor will return the following package to the VA via electronic delivery within 5 business days of receipt of recorded documents from the recorder of deeds office and/or clerk of the court. 1. The invoice covering the agreed upon costs incurred for services provided. The Contractor will be paid a flat fee for services rendered which is inclusive of all travel expenses, copy costs, telephone charges, and other costs of a like nature. The Contractor will provide documentation for the reimbursable expenses, such as title insurance fees, and recording costs. 2. Policy of title insurance (original and one copy). Alta U.S. Policy Form 9/28/91 shall be used, naming the United States of America, by and through the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as the insured, in the amount of the purchase price or the amount of the tax assessed value as of the date and time of recording of the General Warranty Deed to the United States of America. The policy of title insurance will be free and clear of any and all encumbrances (exceptions) to the title except those shown as acceptable in the DOJ/OGC Preliminary Opinion. 3. The original recorded copy and one copy of the General Warranty Deed (or other form of Deed) to the United States of America. 4. Certified copies of any title clearance documents showing the recordation date. V. CONFLICT OF INTEREST The Contractor will not, have a financial interest in the real estate to be covered by the Services. This limitation shall include all principals, employees, spouses of employees and principals, partners, children or business associates of the Contractor. VI. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISION The Contractor must sign the enclosed confidentiality provision requiring that any employee that works with this project does not disclose proprietary or otherwise sensitive information. VI. CIVIL RIGHTS AND PROGRAM DELIVERY By contracting to perform these Services the Contractor assures the VA that the program or activities respecting the Services will be conducted in compliance with all applicable Federal civil rights laws, rules, regulations, and policies.