***UPDATE*** 5/4/2020 - Questions and answers posted as an attachment. See attachments listing. 1. Description : The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Rural Development (RD), National Financial and Accounting Operations Center (NFAOC), St. Louis, MO is soliciting information for potential sources to provide NATIONWIDE Disposition SERVICES for its Real Estate Owned (REO) properties. The requirement is national in scope, supporting an RD portfolio that is located in all 50 United States, in addition to the U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. Inventory would include single family homes, condominiums, manufactured homes, and vacant lots. The NFAOC is issuing the sources sought as a means of conducting market research to identify if there are small business concerns available and show interest in this upcoming requirement. Any vendor small or large interested must show experience, ability, capacity and resources to provide the supervision, labor, materials, equipment, and supplies necessary to provide REO disposition services nationwide. Status as a small business concern is determined in accordance with 13 CFR parts 125.8 through 125.13. Please refer to the Federal Acquisition Regulation at www . acquisition.gov , Part 19 for additional detailed information. The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to be assigned to this procurement is 531210 – Buyer’s agents, real estate, offices . The REO disposition process is a collaborative effort between Agency and other entities to legally clear the property for sale, preservation of the property during the marketing and sales process and finalizing the sale process for free and clear title to the buyer. The Agency must review a current Appraisal and Title work to assure property is valued correctly and review title of the property for ease of sale process. Property Inspections and Preservation is done on the property to maintain the value of the property and to eliminate any nuisance abatement issues that could arise. Some of the services are monthly inspections, regular lawn mowing, waste removal and more. The Agency is seeking services to market/sale/close this property as per the handbook guidelines. The provider will need to work hand-in-hand with the agency during this process and provide a post-closing title assessment for assurance that any and all releases of Deed Restrictions, if applicable, are completed and property is legally conveyed to the new owner. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY and a SOLICITATION IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE . This notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Government to issue a Request or Proposal (RFP) in the future. Further, the USDA, Rural Development is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred associated with this RFI. Not responding to the sources sought does not preclude participation in any future RFP, if any is issued. If a solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on beta.SAM.gov and GSA eBuy . It is the responsibility of the potential offeror to monitor these sites for additional information pertaining to this requirement. Responses do not guarantee award nor exclude/include you in the acquisition process. No feedback on evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. 2. Background Rural Development is a nationwide lender and provides loans to low and moderate income applicants located in rural geographic areas to assist them in obtaining single family housing through multiple programs. RD maintains a portfolio of approximately 232,525 Single Family Housing borrowers. Section 502 Direct loans are generally secured by first mortgages on modest dwellings located on non-farm tracts of one acre or less. A limited number of homes are located on larger than one acre of land. The Single-Family Housing Direct loans are located in each of the 50 United States, in addition to the U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa. RD currently processes all loan originations through State Offices and approximately 550 Field Offices. The NFAOC, located in St. Louis, Missouri provides support to the field offices for loan originations and are responsible for most servicing functions. RD is currently utilizing a decentralized model for servicing foreclosure and inventory properties in approximately 40% of the country. The REO portfolios are currently serviced in a “mixed servicing” environment. Approximately 60% of the states are serviced by NFAOC with the remainder being serviced throughout the country by the State and/or field Office. The purpose of the centralized default management division is to minimize risk to the Federal Government, the taxpayer, as well as reduce the cost associated with servicing defaulted customers. 3. Requested Information Your response should provide: A brief capability statement that demonstrates existing capacity as well as knowledge and past experience within the last 3 years. (For the purposes of this Capability Statement, capacity shall refer to matters such as the magnitude of the tasking, the amount of equipment or facilities involved, and the size of the staff needed). The scope of REO disposition Services shall encompass all 50 United States, in addition to the U.S. Territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, all serviced by RD. a. Are you currently providing REO disposition services nationwide? If so, in what capacity? b. Do you intend on submitting a proposal if the government posts a solicitation? c. Company information – small business; socioeconomic certifications? d. Briefly explain your “quality assurance standards” for performing REO disposition services. e. Companies will be required to be knowledgeable about the required licenses necessary to conduct business in the various states and their respective counties, to include any specialty licenses. You must demonstrate your existing capability, or your potential to acquire this capability. f. Provide details regarding if you will perform as a prime. If not, provide details on proposed joint ventures, teaming arrangements, strategic alliances, or other business arrangements to satisfy the above requirements. Offerors are encouraged to identify teams, indicating each team member’s size based upon the NAICS code of the work that the team member may be doing. 4. Responses a. Submission Instructions: Interested parties are encouraged to respond to this Sources Sought request. All communication shall be in writing and submitted electronically via email, referencing this RFI number to:
[email protected] and
[email protected]. No information will be taken by telephone. b. Written responses are to be in Portable Document Format (PDF) and are due no later than 12:00 PM EASTERN STANDARD TIME (EST) May 7, 2019 . c. Your entire submission shall be PDF limited to 8 pages (8x11), single spaced, 12-point font and should be separated by Sections. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 5. Questions Questions regarding this announcement shall be submitted in writing, via e-mail to the Contract Officer
[email protected] . Verbal questions will not be accepted. The Government does not guarantee that questions received after May 4, 2019, 2:00 PM EST will be answered.