Inactive

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE This notice is being published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 5.101 requiring dissemination of information for proposed contract action... NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE This notice is being published in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 5.101 requiring dissemination of information for proposed contract actions. This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract and is not a request for competitive quotes/proposals. The statutory authority for this sole source procurement is prescribed by FAR 13.501(a) under the authority of 41 U.S.C. 1901. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), located in Washington, DC, intends to negotiate a sole-source Firm Fixed Price (FFP) bridge contract Countertrade Products, Incorporated (7585 W 66th Avenue, Arvada, Colorado 80003-3969/DUNS 144293636) for Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal services. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541519: Other Computer Related Services with a size standard of $30M. The PSC Code is DA01: IT and Telecom – Business Application/Application Development Support Services. Background and General Description of Work: The previous task order was 47QFDA20F0046 86543B18E00002 issued as a General Services Administration (GSA) assisted acquisition on a sole source basis to CounterTrade/Veros. The period of performance was October 30, 2018 through April 29, 2020. The current task order is 47QFDA20F0046 86543B19E00004 also issued as a GSA assisted acquisition on a sole source basis to CounterTrade/Veros. The period of performance is April 29, 2020 through April 29, 2022. On June 27, 2016, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) made it mandatory for mortgagees to submit electronic appraisals through a centralized portal for case numbers issued on or after that date. The Office of Single Family Housing (SFH) requires a transaction based Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal with approved government lenders and service providers. The EAD portal is a centralized platform that allows uploading of electronic appraisal files to a central location where they are processed and checked against a FHA defined rule set and the original file scored, and securely transferred to HUD servers. A major component of the FHA insuring process is the collection of an appraisal. The Home Valuation Policy Division is responsible for the policy and solutions supporting the collection of appraisal data. As part of HUD’s IT modernization initiative, a new EAD Module was built on the FHA Catalyst platform. On September 15, 2021, FHA announced a mandatory transition date for approved FHA mortgagees to begin using the FHA Catalyst: EAD Module by March 14, 2022. A broad focus group of mortgages, technology service providers and industry leaders convened and expressed their inability to meet HUD’s timeframe for mandatory implementation of the FHA Catalyst: EAD Module. The consensus from the group was that the transition timeframe published was alarming, aggressive, resource-challenging, unbudgeted and out-of-sync with their existing priorities. Mortgagees have stated they are unable to comply with the March 14, 2022 mandatory transition date. As such, continued maintenance of the connection between the EAD system and the HUD Infrastructure through the revised migration plan, including HUD’s origination, quality control, and servicing systems is needed. This contractor’s systems are customized, configured, and interfaced with multiple origination and downstream HUD systems. Unique Characteristics of the Requirement: The nature of the acquisition is supported by the circumstances above and this requires use of the authority cited because only the designated service will meet SFH’s needs and demonstrates the contractor’s unique qualifications to fulfil the requirement. Unique FHA Rule set that has been incorporated which provides risk scoring methodology and FHA specific data configuration requirements alongside the Contractor’s ruleset. These rulesets allow FHA to receive an automated compliance screening including a risk and fraud collateral score prior to loan endorsement. Additionally, the initial legacy EAD on-boarding process of users took over 12-months to complete and this period included the necessity for continuous enhancements as stress loads with substantial volume exposed various behavioral and functionality gaps. The Catalyst EAD Module as the successor system is the only alternative available in production, yet currently lacks some optimal legacy functionality and is expected to experience a similar cycle of feedback corrections, modifications and enhancements. FHA has received significant pushback from industry on the scheduled timeline as the published mandatory use date is less than six months away and the proposed phased onboarding is compressed to 3 months instead of the 12 months that was provided during the original CounterTrade/Veros EAD onboarding launch. This service is unique because CounterTrade/Veros can continue to support EAD while FHA transitions lenders and service providers to the FHA Catalyst: EAD Module, which is part of HUD’s IT modernization initiative. This continues to provide FHA with continuity in the EAD process during the on-boarding of lenders and service providers while FHA works through any necessary enhancement, corrections, and modifications to the Catalyst EAD Module. Some of the specialized and unique HUD specific enhancements to the EAD cannot be fulfilled by another contractor in the short amount of time. General Information & Instructions: This is NOT a solicitation for quotations, quotation abstracts, a request for competitive quotations; or request for competitive proposals; however, all responses received within 15 days from the date of publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. Any responses to this notice must clearly and thoroughly defend claims or assertions that attempt to refute the government’s stance. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action based upon responses to this notice is solely with the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement, but the information must eliminate the government's concerns and address how the items can be provided without jeopardizing the requirement. Simply submitting a brochure or capabilities statement is not a guaranteed way to alleviate or eliminate the government's concerns. Responses must be specifically tailored to address (1) exactly how the offeror’s services can be provided without jeopardizing the Government’s mission, (2) how the approach overcomes the barrier to competition the government faces, and (3) how the approach is more advantageous to the Government than the sole source approach. If no affirmative responses are received within 15 days of this notice, a contract will be issued to Countertrade Products, Incorporated. Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Che.U.Logan@hud.gov.