CLOSING AGENT SERVICES FOR THE HOUSTON, TEXAS GEOGRAPHIC AREA

This amended notice corrects the inadvertant error in paragraph 1(c) of the original notice stating that the contractor must have an office in the State of Minnesota. It has been corrected to state that the contrator must have an office located in the geographic area in which services are to be provided; that is, one of the Texas counties named below. This is the only change. This purpose of this Sources Sought announcement is for market research to help determine if there is adequate interest in the potential acquisition described in this notice on the part of qualified small businesses in any one particular small business set aside program. Sources interested in and capable of providing the services described in this notice are being sought simultaneously from: Woman Owned Small Businesses; Economically Disadvantaged Woman Owned Small Businesses; HUB Zone Small Businesses; and, Service Disable Veteran Owned (SDVO) Small Businesses. Your response to this Sources Sought must identify your business size and your small business classification as WOSB, EDWOSB, HUB Zone or SDVOSB. HUD is NOT seeking expressions of interest from small businesses other than those in the categories mentioned above or large businesses. SERVICES TO BE PROCURED The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is seeking a contractor to provide CLOSING AGENT SERVICES for the Houston, Texas geographic area, encompassing the following counties: Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Matagorda, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Polk, Robertson, Sabine, San Augustin, San Jacinto, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington, and Wharton. HUD intends to competitively procure these services through a Request for Proposals (RFP). The anticipated contract award will be for a one-year base period and four one-year options. One or more contracts may be awarded. This notice contains only a summary of the tasks that will be contained in the RFP. The RFP will list in detail all the specific tasks in the performance work statement as well as the other terms and conditions that will be contained in the award. Many tasks have strict timeframes for performance. The contractor may incur disincentives if certain tasks are not performed within the established timeframe. The tasks to be performed by the closing agent services contractor will include, but are not limited to,: (1) Task 1 - General Requirements: a. Perform closings as quickly as possible, normally within 30 to 60 days of assignment; b. Conduct closings at an acceptable office location within 50 miles of the property being sold; c. Establish and maintain a fully staffed and equipped office within the geographic area in which services are to be provided; d. Establish a non-interest bearing escrow account, as trustee for HUD, used solely for transactions occurring under the contract for all sales proceeds, earnest money deposits, loan proceeds, and purchaser's funds presented at closing; e. Establish, maintain and adhere to a quality control plan, acceptable to HUD, ensuring that all contract requirements are met successfully; and, f. Ensure that all subcontractors are approved, in advance of the subcontractor performing any responsibilities under the contract, by the Contracting Officer. (2) Task 2 - Pre-closing activities: a. Open closing/escrow file; b. Order a title search and upload the results to HUD's online system; c. Clear routine title issues and refer major issues to the Asset Manager contractor; d. Provide the specified written notification to the purchaser and selling agent, including a letter to the purchaser stating that HUD does not require the purchaser to purchase title insurance and that should the purchaser elects to purchase title insurance, the purchaser may do so from any firm selling such insurance; e. Establish a closing date and upload a pre-closing package not later than three days after receiving a written request for closing for a cash sale, or complete and accurate loan documents from a lender for a financed sale; f. Administer broker requests for extensions; g. Prepare an accurate HUD-1; and, h. Appropriately process cancelled or expired contracts and closings. (3) Task 3 - Closing activities: a. The contractor (or approved sub-contractor) shall conduct, including being physically present at, every closing; b. Complete each closing timely and accurately; and, c. Table fund all closings. (4) Task 4 - Special Programs: Perform additional specific tasks for sales under Good Neighbor Next Door Programs such as the Officer Next Door; Teacher Next Door; Firefighter Next Door and Emergency Medical Technician Next Door programs or for properties located in an Asset Control Area. (5) Task 5 - Post closing activities: a. Notify the Asset Manager that a closing has occurred; b. Wire sales proceeds within one banking day to the U.S. Treasury; c. Notify all taxing authorities and Home Ownership Associations, if applicable, of the sale; d. Deliver the deed for recording not more than one day following the closing; e. Upload the post-closing package to HUD's online system; and, f. Appropriately process and perform activities to remedy any errors. (6) Task 6 - Reporting: provide required report to the Asset Manager contractor, Contracting Officer and the Government Technical Representative. (7) Task 7 - Special Services: the contractor on occasion may perform special services as directed by the Government Technical Representative, such as recordation of documents and title searches, unrelated to properties assigned to the contractor for closing or owned by HUD. BUSINESS SIZE The North American Classification System (NAICS) Code is 541191, Title Abstract and Settlement Offices, and the Size Standard is $10 million. The solicitation will be a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial services prepared in accordance with the format in Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in the notice. IF A SOLICITATION IS ISSUED, IT WILL BE ANNOUNCED AND AN RFP WILL BE POSTED TO THIS SITE with an issue date on or about August 31, 2012, and a response due date of on or about September 20, 2012. All interested parties MUST respond to the solicitation announcement separately from their response to this Sources Sought notice. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice. Reminder: a prospective contractor must be registered on the Central Contractor Registration Website (www.ccr.gov and Online Representations and Certifications Application (orca.bpn.gov). If interested, please submit the following via email to Darrell Rishel at Darrell.D.Rishel@hud.gov: 1. A capability statement of no more than three pages that provides responses sufficient to ascertain whether the vendor may be able to perform the tasks stated above; and, 2. A statement of the vendor's business size and small business set aside category. Do not submit merely a company overview or unnecessarily elaborate materials. Interested parties must respond no later than 12:00pm MDT on July 20, 2012.