Business Service Provider

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE to determine the availability and capability of qualified small businesses (including certified 8(a), Small Disadvantaged, HUBZone firms; veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and women-owned small businesses) to provide Business Service Provider via web-based that can support HUD's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) Insurance Program, which is commonly known as the FHA reverse mortgage program. The Business Service Provider shall meet the growing demand for - and complexity of - HECM loans; shall comply with current Federal legislation; shall have the ability to accurately address legislative changes and modify HECM processes in a timely fashion; shall address audit weaknesses; and shall improve overall accountability, monitoring, reporting and oversight over the various stages of the HECM product's life cycle. The Period of Performance may be a 15 month base plus four 12-month option periods. Place of Performance is the contractor's facility. Hours of Operation to provide services is between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Monday thru Friday except Federal holidays, temporary closure, and Executive Orders and to interconnect with HUD systems to accommodate HUD and FHA business partners throughout the Continental United States. Periodic travel within the Continental United States (CONUS) may be required. Provide a detailed description of your company's (including its teammates, if applicable) experience and demonstrated abilities to deliver each and every one separately of the following requirements: Background: A demonstration program for home equity conversion mortgages was authorized by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 (PL 100-242), and was initially limited to 2,500 total mortgages, although that limit was raised. The purpose of this program was to enable eligible (age 62 and above) homeowners to convert some of their accumulated home equity into cash to meet their special needs without requiring repayment of the loan for as long as the borrower resides in the home. HUD designed the HECM product in response to the statute, and it has become the dominant reverse mortgage product in the US market. The first HECM loan was closed in September 1989. The HUD Appropriation Act of 1998 authorized HUD and FHA to make HECM a permanent program. During Fiscal Year 2013, FHA endorsed approximately 59,000 cases bringing the total number of HECM loan endorsements to just fewer than 845,000 loans since the program's inception. A reverse mortgage derives its name from the pattern of payments that is typically the reverse of a traditional forward mortgage loan used to buy a home. With a home purchase mortgage (also referred to as a forward mortgage), the lender advances funds to the borrower in a lump sum at the outset while the borrower makes periodic repayments to the lender that eventually retire the debt. The borrower must have sufficient income and acceptable credit to qualify for the loan. With a reverse mortgage, the pattern is the opposite - the lender advances funds periodically to the borrower while the borrower makes no repayment to the lender until the end of the loan when a lump sum repayment is due. Because advances to borrowers, interest on the debt, and other fees accrue, reverse mortgages are generally risky loans for private lenders to offer. With HECM - the federal government's reverse mortgage insurance program - under the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013 (which amended Section 255(h) of the National Housing Act), mortgagees must perform a financial assessment of all prospective mortgagors on all HECM transaction types, i.e., traditional, refinance, and purchase. Funds from the HECM loan are distributed to the borrower either in a lump sum or in the form of a monthly payment. Funds can also remain in a line of credit for use at any time. The borrower can choose to combine these payment options or can change payment options at any time for $20. HECM borrowers repay the HECM loan when they no longer use the home as their principal residence. At that time, the HECM loan must either be refinanced into a traditional forward mortgage loan or the property can be sold and the proceeds then used to pay off the HECM loan. Any remaining funds will go to the borrower or to their estate. FHA provides mortgage insurance to private lenders, protecting them against losses resulting from non-repayment in full of the loans and making the lenders more willing to make these loans. Non-repayment of a HECM loan would typically occur if the amount of the debt exceeds the net proceeds from the sale of the property when the loan becomes due. If a loss due to non-repayment occurs, the lender files a claim with FHA for insurance benefits. One feature that distinguishes the FHA's HECM product from conventional reverse mortgage products is an option that lenders may assign the loan to HUD when the total loan balance grows to equal 98 percent or more of the loan's maximum claim amount. HUD offers this option (1) to increase the liquidity of these loans that have no stated term to maturity and (2) to provide lenders with full insurance coverage from losses due to non-repayment. When HUD accepts assignment of a HECM loan, HUD assumes all responsibilities for servicing the loan going forward. FHA insures three types of HECM transactions - Traditional, Refinance, and Purchase. The Business Service Provider's solution shall improve overall accountability, monitoring, reporting, and oversight over the various stages of the HECM life cycle to include the overall efficiency of premium collection, loan administration, servicing of HECM-Endorsed loans, servicing of HECM-Assigned Notes, claims processing, accounting, reporting, and portfolio analysis. The objective is to obtain a cost-effective via web-based solution that supports FHA's HECM insurance program that: • Successfully functions in a Federal government environment • Provides a solution that facilitates and integrates the HECM process for FHA and its business partners • Provides an integrated end-to-end solution to the HECM insurance program business function that improves the quality and efficiency of existing FHA business requirements and rules • Successfully transfers and receives HECM data via bilateral interfaces with other HUD financial systems and the external interface with PAY.GOV • Adheres to Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) security standards and regulations • Quickly adapts to legislative, regulatory, and other administrative changes in the policies and procedures that guide management processes • Adheres to HUD guidelines (e.g., Title 24 Part 206), handbooks (e.g., HUD Handbook 4235.1, HUD Handbook 4330.1, Revision 5, Chapter 13, HUD Handbook 7610.1, HUD Handbook 7610.0, HUD Handbook 4060.1, HUD Handbook 2400.25), Housing Notices, policy directives, and Mortgagee Letters • Supports the current and projected HECM loan endorsement volume while achieving cost savings for FHA and FHA's business partners • Successfully delivers a solution that allows the user to extract, download, and view entire lender portfolio into one medium (e.g., Excel, XML) for reporting and reconciliation purposes • Supports GNMA's and other Government-Sponsored Enterprises' (GSEs) such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac) efforts to develop a liquid secondary market for HECM loans • Provides FHA and its business partners accounting and audit support that meets all Federal laws, regulations, and requirements • Eliminates the current time consuming, manual processes needed to reconcile HECM data residing in different media or on different platforms • Accurately maintains all active and historical loan level records, such as loan and borrower characteristics, loan balances, interest rate indices, and case status • Provides HUD/FHA management with ready access to data for financial, budgetary, and ad hoc reporting and allows for the use of business intelligence and management reporting tools. • Provides the flexibility to support process changes that GNMA will require to maintain its HECM mortgage-backed-security (HMBS) program. • Provides automated reconciliation support of loan balances and posted transactions between HUD's subsidiary (HECM solution) and FHA's business partners. Ensure that the Business Service Provider via web-based is available for FHA's business partners outside the hours of operation cited above in order to allow FHA's business partners to submit, process, and retrieve HECM loan data. Special Qualifications: HECM information is classified as having a Moderate-Impact Security Categorization as outlined in FIPS Publication 199 (Standards for Security Categorization of Federal Information and Information Systems) and Publication 200 (Minimum Security Requirements for Federal Information and Information Systems). This is subject to Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12, Policy for a Common Identification for Federal Employees and Contractors, Office of Management and Budget e(OMB) Memorandum M-05-24, Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and OMB Memorandum M-03-22, OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, and subsequent updates as applicable. In keeping with the aforementioned policies, the Contractor shall ensure that all staff has the appropriate minimum background security investigations as set forth in Appendix C, Background Check Descriptions, of FIPS Publications 201 (Personal Identity Verification PIV of Federal Employees and Contractors). Contractor's staffs who handle HECM data must maintain security clearances at all times. The Contractor shall ensure that all staff has the appropriate clearance within 30 days from contract award. All new contractor staff must have the minimum background investigation and security clearance prior to working with HECM data. In addition, contractor must describe the certifications, technical capabilities, level of security clearances, testing/inspections capabilities, and other critical knowledge, skills, abilities and experiences of at least half of the key personnel fulfilling the hours in the various labor categories. The section above defines the work requirement currently perform by full and part time staff. Within the capability statement, describe your understanding of the requirements by better defining the specific labor categories necessary to meet the desired requirement. Capability statements must address at least two prior contracts that reflect similar type and scope of work and the number of concurrent staff resources available. The NAICS Code is 522390, Other Activities Related to Credit Intermediation/Loan Servicing. The small business size standard is 19M. Interested small business potential offerors are encouraged to respond to this notice. However, be advised that generic capability statements are not sufficient for effective review of the respondents' capacity and capability to perform the specific work as required. Response must directly demonstrate the company's capability, experience, and/or ability to marshal resources to effectively and efficiently perform each of the tasks described above in sufficient level of detail to allow definitive review of the capability statement and evidence that the contractor can satisfy the minimum requirements listed above in compliance with FAR 52.219-14 ("Limitations of Subcontracting"). Failure to definitively address each of these requirement will result in a finding that respondent lacks capability to perform the work. Responses to this notice shall be limited to 15 pages, and must include: 1. Company name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone and FAX numbers, website address (if available), and the name, telephone number, and e-mail address of a point of contact having the authority and knowledge to clarify responses with Government representatives. 2. Name, title, telephone number, and e-mail addresses of individuals who can verify the demonstrated capabilities identified in the responses. 3. Business size for NAICS XXXX (size standard $ or number of employees) and status, if qualified as an 8(a) firm (must be certified by SBA), Small Disadvantaged Business (must be certified by SBA), Woman-Owned Small Business, HUBZone firm (must be certified by SBA), and/or Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (must be listed in the VetBiz Vendor Information Pages). 4. DUNS number, CAGE Code, Tax Identification Number, and company structure (Corporation, LLC, partnership, joint venture, etc.). Companies also must be registered in SAM, at https://www.sam.gov/portal/public/SAM/#1. 5. Identification of the firm's GSA Schedule contract(s) by Schedule number and contract number and SINs that are applicable are requested. 6. If the company has a Government approved accounting system, please identify the agency that approved the system. Please submit copies of any documentation such as letters or certificates to indicate the firm's status (see item #3, above) Teaming arrangements are acceptable, and the information required above on the company responding to this announcement, should also be provided for each entity expected to be teammates of the respondent for performance of this work. To the maximum extent possible, please submit non-proprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be properly protected from disclosure. This notice is for planning purposes only, and does not constitute an Invitation for Bids, a Request for Proposals, a Solicitation, and a Request for Quotes, or an indication the Government will contract for the items contained in this announcement. This request is not to be construed as a commitment on the part of the Government to award a contract, nor does the Government intend to pay for any information submitted as a result of this request. The Government will not reimburse respondents for any cost associated with submission of the information being requested or reimburse expenses incurred to interested parties for responses to this announcement. Responses to this announcement will not be returned, nor be any ensuing discussions or debriefings of any responses. However, information obtained as a result of this announcement may be reflected in the subsequent solicitation, and HUD may contact one or more respondents for clarifications and to enhance the Government understands. This announcement is Government market research, and may result in revisions in both its requirements and its acquisition strategy based on industry responses. RESPONDENTS MUST SUBMIT CAPABILITY STATEMENT VIA E-MAIL to Brenda K. Lee at [email protected] no later than January 10, 2014 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. Questions in reference to this announcement will not be acknowledged.