Private Counsel Debt Collection - Western District of Pennsylvania

I. Objective The objective of this pre-solicitation notice is to inform the vendor community that the U.S. Department of Justice intends to release a solicitation in support of the Private Counsel Program. The Department is seeking attorneys to litigate both unsecured and secured debt collection cases for various Federal agencies. Using negotiated procedures authorized in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 15, the Department intends to award a single contract or multiple contracts in support of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania. II. Background The Department launched the Private Counsel Program following the passage of the Federal Debt Recovery Act of 1986 which first authorized the use of private law firms for this purpose. The Debt Collection Management Staff manages the program with legal oversight by the United States Attorney's Offices at the district level. The program is currently running in 19 districts nationwide, with further expansion planned. This procurement is strictly limited to attorneys who are licensed to practice law in the Federal judicial districts. Contractors will be required to pursue debt collection activities which parallel existing industry procedures that have proven to be effective and efficient; to interact with Government representatives at defined stages of the collection process (i.e., settlement, compromise, etc.); and to input relevant case data in a computer database maintained by the Government. Contract payments will be based primarily on contingency fee payments for unsecured debt collection and firm-fixed prices for secured debt collection. Other direct costs and/or material costs may be reimbursed on an actual cost basis. It is projected that each contract awarded will have a period of five years from the date of award, which may be inclusive of option periods. The anticipated number of awards will be specified in the solicitation. III. General Information The solicitation and any documents relating to this requirement will be available only on the Federal Business Opportunities website, www.fbo.gov. Potential offerors are responsible for monitoring this site for the release of the solicitation and any subsequent amendments. Offerors should not contact the Department for updates and rather are encouraged to sign-up, on the Federal Business Opportunities website, for email notification of all actions relevant to this solicitation, as well as on the interested vendors list. The solicitation is anticipated to be released on or around September 25, 2019. Once the solicitation is released, offerors will be given an opportunity to ask questions and answers will be posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website. Offerors who are not registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) should apply for registration immediately upon receipt of this pre-solicitation notice. Failure to register in the SAM at the time of your proposal submission in accordance with FAR 52.204-7 will cause your proposal to be rejected. See https://www.sam.gov for information on registration. IV. Disclaimer and Important Notes The posting of this pre-solicitation notice is for vendor planning purposes only. This pre-solicitation notice in no way obligates the Department to issue a solicitation. The Department does not guarantee the issuance of a solicitation nor that the information contained in this pre-solicitation notice will remain unchanged upon issuance of a solicitation.