Request for Proposals · 2019-08-01 · DUPLIN COUNTY TAX OFFICE | RFP Tax Foreclosure Legal Services 2 All proposals must be firm and not subject to increase, unless specified within

DUPLIN COUNTY TAX OFFICE | RFP Tax Foreclosure Legal Services 1

Request for Proposals

Legal Foreclosure Services for

Duplin County, NC Tax Department

Proposals Will Be Received Until

Friday, August 30, 2019 117 Beasley Street

Kenansville, North Carolina 28349

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

Sealed proposals endorsed Legal Foreclosure Services for Duplin County to be furnished to Duplin County will be received by the Duplin County Tax Office 117 Beasley St. Kenansville, NC, 28349 or Po Box: 968 Kenansville, NC 28349 until, September 3, 2019. The County reserves the right to reject any and/or all proposals, bids, to waive informalities in the bids, and to choose the bid that is in the best interests of the County.

It is the policy of the County of Duplin that an employee, officer, or agent of the County may not

participate in any manner in the bidding, awarding, or administering of contracts or agreements in

which they, or a member of their immediate family, their business partner, or any organization in which

they serve as an officer, director, trustee, or employee, have a financial interest.

The successful Proposer must comply with all provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

and all rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. By submitting a proposal, the successful

Proposer agrees to indemnify the County from and against all claims, suits, damages, costs, losses, and

expenses in any manner arising out of, or connected with, the failure of the Company, its

subcontractors, agents, successors, assigns, officers, or employees to comply with the provisions of the

ADA or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.


All proposals must be firm and not subject to increase, unless specified within the provisions of this

Request for Proposals (RFP) and mutually agreed upon by the County and the Proposer.

No special inducements will be considered that are not a part of the original proposal document.

County Rights and Options

The County, at its sole discretion, reserves the following rights:

To supplement, amend, substitute or otherwise modify this RFP at any time

this RFP, this RFP process, or the Services subject to this RFP that would be in the best interests

of the County

To issue additional requests for information or clarification from errors or to allow corrections of

errors or omissions

To require one or more Service Providers to supplement, clarify or provide additional

information in order for the County to evaluate the Responses submitted

To negotiate an agreement with a Service Provider based on the information provided in

response to this RFP.

To award one or more contract(s).

Public Records

Any material submitted in response to this RFP will become a “public record” once the Proposer’s

document(s) is opened and the Proposer is determined to be a participant in the solicitation process and

shall be subject to public disclosure consistent with Chapter 132, North Carolina Statutes. Proposers

must claim any applicable exemptions to disclosure provided by law in their response to this RFP.

Proposers must identify materials to be protected, and must state the reasons why such exclusion from

public disclosure is necessary and legal. The County reserves the right to make all final determination(s)

of the applicability of North Carolina General Statutes § 132-1.2, Confidential Information.

Trade Secrets/Confidentiality

Proposers must claim any material which qualifies as "trade secret" information under N.C.G.S. 66152(3)

in their response to this RFP and must state the reasons why such exclusion from public disclosure is

necessary and legal. To properly designate material as trade secret under these circumstances, each

Proposer must take the following precautions: (a) any trade secrets submitted by a Proposer should be

submitted in a separate, sealed envelope marked "Trade Secret - Confidential and Proprietary

Information - Do Not Disclose Except for the Purpose of Evaluating this Proposal," and (b) the same

trade secret/confidentiality designation should be stamped on each page of the trade secret materials

contained in the envelope.


Notice to Proposers Legal Foreclosure Services

Do not attempt to designate your entire proposal as a trade secret, and do not attempt to designate

pricing information as a trade secret. Doing so may result in your proposal being disqualified.

In submitting a proposal, each Proposer agrees that the County may reveal any trade secret materials

contained in such response to all County staff and County officials involved in the selection process.

Familiarity with Laws and Ordinances

The submission of a proposal on the equipment and services requested herein shall be considered as a

representation that the Proposer is familiar with all federal, state, and local laws, ordinances, rules and

regulations which affect those engaged or employed in the provision of such services, or equipment

used in the provision of such services, or which in any way affects the conduct of the provision of such

services; and no plea of misunderstanding will be considered on account of ignorance thereof. If the

Proposer discovers any provisions in the RFP documents that are contrary to or inconsistent with any

law, ordinance, or regulation, it shall be reported to the County in writing without delay.

E-Verify Compliance

Per N.C.G.S. 143-133.3“E-VERIFY. Provider shall comply with the requirements of Article 2 of Chapter 64

of the North Carolina General Statutes. Further, if the Provider utilizes a subcontractor, the Provider

shall require the subcontractor to comply with the requirements of Article 2 of Chapter 64 of the North

Carolina General Statutes.”

Iran Divestment Act

Provider hereby certifies that it is not on the North Carolina State Treasurer’s list of persons engaging in

business activities in Iran, prepared pursuant to NCGS 147-86.58, nor will Provider utilize on this

agreement any subcontractor on such list. This list, along with additional information about the Iran

Divestment Act, is available on the Treasurer’s Office site: https://www.nctreasurer.com/inside-the-

department/OpenGovernment/Pages/-Divestment-ActResources.aspx.ay

Divestment from Companies that Boycott Israel

Contractor hereby certifies that it is not on the North Carolina State Treasurer’s list of companies

engaged in a boycott of Israel in violation of NCGS 147-86.80 et. seq. and that it will not utilize on this

agreement any subcontractor on said list.”

https://www.nctreasurer.com/inside-the-department/OpenGovernment/Pages/-Divestment-ActResources.aspx.ay

https://www.nctreasurer.com/inside-the-department/OpenGovernment/Pages/-Divestment-ActResources.aspx.ay


INSTRUCTIONS TO PROPOSERS

INTRODUCTION:

This entire set of documents constitutes the RFP. The proposer must return the RFP with all information

necessary to properly analyze the proposer’s response in full, in the same numerical order in which it

was issued. Proposer’s notes, exceptions, and comments may be rendered on an attachment, provided

the same format of this RFP text is followed.

RFP Response Submission

All proposals shall be returned in a sealed container or opaque envelope containing one original

proposal (please mark document as original) showing original signatures and seals and two (2) printed

copies marked Legal Foreclosure Services for Duplin County. Proposals must be submitted to the

Duplin County Tax Office, PO Box: 968 Kenansville NC, 28349 or 117 Beasley St. Kenansville, NC 28349,

no later than August 30, 2019. Late proposals will not be considered. Submittals will not be accepted by

fax or electronic mail.

The County will not be obligated for the expenses of any provider arising out of preparation and/or

submittal of responses to this RFP. Any and all proposals to this RFP are to be prepared at the cost and

expense of the respondents, with the express understanding that there may be no claims whatsoever

for the reimbursement of any costs, damages, or expenses relating to this procurement from the County

or any other party for any reason (including the cancellation of this RFP).

Proposals must be made in the official name of the individual, firm, or corporation under which the

business is conducted (showing official business address) and must be signed in ink by a person duly

authorized to legally bind the business entity submitting the proposal. All proposals should be

complete and carefully worded and must convey all of the information requested by the County. If

errors or exceptions are found in the proposal, or if the proposal fails to conform to the requirements of

the RFP, the County will be the sole judge as to whether that variance is significant enough to reject the

proposal.

Proposals should be prepared simply and economically. All data, materials, and documentation shall be

available in a clear, concise form. The County reserves the right to reproduce proposals for internal use

in the evaluation process.

Proposers are expressly forbidden from contacting any other County employee or Duplin County elected

official regarding this Request for Proposals. Any such outside contact may result in disqualification

from the request for proposal process.


Proposer Questions and Inquiries

Proposer Questions and Inquiries relative to this RFP must be submitted in writing only by August 23,

2019, to Joan Barnette, Assistant Tax Administrator, 117 Beasley St., Kenansville, NC 28349 or email:

[email protected] (Email is preferred), Fax: (910) 275-1871. The County will provide written

responses to all inquiries received by this date, and responses will be made available to all recipients of

this RFP. Any oral responses made by any representative of the County may not be relied upon. Any

supplements or amendments to this RFP will be in writing and furnished to potential bidders.

►All proposals must include a signed acknowledgement of any addendums issued.

Purpose of Specifications:

The County of Duplin is seeking a sole provider for mortgage style foreclosures for our county and the

municipalities we represent.

VENDOR REQUIREMENTS:

Must comply with all NC laws for mortgage style property tax foreclosures.

Must agree that the County will determine the frequency of distribution of accounts, however

there will be at least one distribution per year.

Must agree the County can perform its own In-Rem foreclosures.

Must understand that the County does not bid on foreclosure properties.

Must understand that the foreclosure bids can be as low as $100 and go through multiple upset

bids.

Must indicate rates for administrative work performed during the upset bid processes.

Must be willing to meet with County Officials regarding foreclosure process as necessary.

Must agree to start foreclosure process within 6 months of receiving file from County. (desired

start time is within 4 months).

Must provide County Tax Collector bi-annual status reports of accounts.

Must agree that all foreclosure work be completed on account from vendor start date within 24

months (desired completion time frame is 18 months).

Must understand that advertisement by publication is acceptable and allowable by law.

Must agree to work jointly with the County in determining which records are to be deemed

Impractical and/or Impossible for the foreclosure attorney to complete.

Must provide fee amount charged for accounts that are deemed by County and Vendor to be

Impractical and/or Impossible to complete. Must provide information on whether this is an

additional fee for accounts recalled by the County above and beyond charges for work already

done.

Must agree to no volume requirement. The estimate at this time is between 100-300 accounts

annually. There is no estimate now of how many In-Rem the County may process.

Must agree to advertise foreclosure auctions on foreclosure vendor’s website.


Must provide information about the minimum amount of time vendor would advertise prior to a

foreclosure.

Must be willing to meet with the Sheriff’s Office and Clerk of Court to work within their

requirements. Must provide workflow of process planned.

Must have ability to communicate with County up to a daily basis in an electronic format.

Must understand this contract is for existing and new mortgage style foreclosure accounts.

Must meet all County minimum insurance and contract requirements.

RESPONSIBILITY OF COUNTY

County will determine number and volume of new accounts to be provided to foreclosure

attorney.

County will perform all In-Rem foreclosures.

County understands that after researching an account, vendor may find reasons to discuss with

County the possibility of the account being deemed Impractical and/or Impossible.

County will work with vendor to make final decision on which records are Impractical and/or

Impossible.

County will advertise foreclosure auctions on County website and notify adjoining owners of

upcoming auctions.

General Conditions:

1) In order for a bid to be considered complete, vendors must be able to supply all items in the bid

package. In addition, all requested information in the bid package must be completed and returned in its

entirety to constitute a complete bid.

2) Contract Period: The services of the Provider shall begin on or about September 15 , 2019, and

continue through June 30th, 2023, with up to two (2) one year extensions provided that either party

shall have the right to terminate the Agreement for services upon (30) thirty days’ notice in writing to

the other party. A detailed project implementation schedule is below:

RFP Release Date August 2, 2019

Deadline for Questions August 23, 2019

RFP's Due September 3, 2019

Work Start Date Anticipated September 15, 2019

3) Default and Termination: Contractor may be found in default of contract if services are not

performed to the degree of quality and frequency so stated herein.


4) Basis of Award: Bid will be awarded to the vendor based upon the ability to meet or exceed all

specifications and with consideration to cost to the County. The County reserves the right to reject any

and all bids.

5) Invoicing Instructions: Attorney shall invoice County for foreclosure work on each parcel upon

settlement of the foreclosure action and entry of the order of foreclosure, otherwise Attorney shall

invoice upon receipt of bankruptcy filing on an account, upon declaration of an account being

impractical and/or impossible, upon full redemption of the account or if the County elects to withdraw

the account from foreclosure proceedings. Invoices payable within 30 days following billing date, with

breakdown of services by work submitted. Send invoices to: Duplin County Tax Administration Post

Office Box 968, Beasley Street, Kenansville, NC 28349.

6) Taxes: A. Federal: Duplin County is exempt from Federal Excise Taxes. The County will issue Federal

Excise Exemption Certificates or Bureau of Internal Revenue Tax Exception Number only upon request of

the contractor. Issuance of the certificate does not mean that the contractor is entitled to a tax refund.

All requests for refunds are to be handled by the contractor. The County will not guarantee any Federal

Tax refunds to the contractor. B. State: Applicable North Carolina Sales and Use Taxes are NOT to be

shown on bids, but are to be added to invoices as a separate item.

7) All bids must be firm and not subject to increase.

8) Duplin County reserves the right to hold bids open for a period of sixty (60) days after bid opening

before making awards.

9) No special inducements will be considered that are not a part of the original bidding document.

10) BID DEPOSIT REQUIREMENTS: BID DEPOSIT NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS BID.

11) PERFORMANCE BOND REQUIREMENTS - NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS BID.

12) Pursuant to N.C.G.S. Chapter 55 Article 15 entitled Foreign Corporations, the successful bidder must

have on file with the Secretary of State of the State of North Carolina a Certificate of Authority to

transact business in this state.

1) GENERAL

a) Contracts awarded will be governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina.

b) Contracts awarded are not assignable, by either party, by operation of law or otherwise.

c) Should any provision, portion or application thereof of Contracts awarded be determined by a court

of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, unenforceable or in conflict with any applicable law or

constitutional provision, the Parties shall negotiate an equitable adjustment in the affected provisions of

any Contracts awarded with a view toward effecting the purpose of Contracts awarded, and the validity

and enforceability of the remaining provisions, portions or applications thereof, shall not be impaired.


d) The subject headings of the paragraphs are included for purposes of convenience only and shall not

affect the construction or interpretation of any of its provisions. Contracts awarded shall be deemed to

have been drafted by both parties, and no purposes of interpretation shall be made to the contrary.

e) Contracts awarded including any attachments, will constitute the entire understanding between

County and the Contractor and will supersede all prior understandings and agreements relating to the

subject matter hereof. Any modification, revision or amendment to this Agreement must be in writing

and executed by both parties. Contracts awarded may not be orally modified.

2) SELECTION PROCESS:

a) Evaluation – As part of the evaluation process, the Evaluation Panel may engage in discussions with

one or more proposer(s). Discussions might be held with an individual proposer to determine in greater

detail the proposer’s qualifications, to explore with the proposer the scope and nature of the required

contractual Services, to learn the proposer’s proposed method of performance and the relative utility of

alternative methods, and to facilitate arriving at a Contract that will be satisfactory to the County. An

Evaluation Panel will evaluate proposals for quality, completeness, and price value to the County.

Selection shall be made from all offers deemed to be fully qualified and best suited among those

submitting proposals based on the evaluation of factors included in the RFP, including price. Price shall

be considered, but need not be the sole determining factor. The Evaluation Panel may cancel this RFP or

reject proposals at any time prior to an award and is not required to furnish a statement of the reason

why a particular proposal was not deemed the most advantageous. The County reserves the right, as

part of the selection process, to request on-site (or virtual) demonstrations and/or presentations.

b) Evaluation Criteria – Below is a description of the evaluation criteria that will be used to evaluate the

proposals. To be deemed responsive, it is important for the firm’s proposal to contain appropriate

detail to demonstrate satisfaction of each criterion and compliance with the performance provisions

outlined in this RFP. The proposal will be the primary source of information used in the evaluation

process. The proposal must contain information specifically related to the proposed services requested

in this RFP. Failure of any firm to submit information requested may result in the elimination of the

proposal from future evaluation. Major criteria to be considered in evaluation may include, but shall not

necessarily be limited to: (a) Qualifications and Experience: Proposers will be evaluated based on their

qualifications and experience for performing the requested Legal Foreclosure Services. (b)

Requirements: Ability to meet RFP requirements and be evaluated on their expert ability to meet

vendor requirements. (c) Price/Fee: Price shall be considered, but need not be the sole determining

factor.

PROPOSERS:

The undersigned bidder hereby declares that they have carefully examined the specifications contained

herein and will provide all labor, materials, equipment, supervision, and insurance applicable to perform

the service in accordance with the specifications and the requirements under the following sum to wit:


PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:

The contract period will be from date of a fully executed contract through June 30, 2022. This

agreement shall be renewed automatically thereafter on an annual basis until terminated in writing by

either party with thirty (30) days notice to the other party.

If after thirty (30) days, the Contractor has not reached an acceptable level of service, they shall be

given thirty (30) days notice that the contract will be terminated at the end of thirty (30) days in which

event the County will be responsible only for payment of services performed through the date of

termination. The value of work completed shall be the sole determination of the County in such a case.

By signing below the Proposer agrees to the following:

The Proposer agrees that in carrying out this agreement, compliance will be maintained with all

applicable federal, state, and local laws, specifically including, without limitations, the Occupational

Safety and Health Act of 1970 and Section 1324A, the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

The Proposer certifies that the proposal is made in good faith and without collusion with any person

submitting a proposal in response to this RFP or with any officer or employee of the County of Duplin.

The undersigned further agrees, in connection with the performance of this agreement, not to

discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, gender,

age, handicap, political affiliation or national origin.

The County reserves the right to hold proposals open for a period of sixty days (60) calendar days after

due date before making awards.

Proposals are to be signed by an officer of the company authorized to bind the submitter to its

provisions. Failure to manually sign the appropriate proposal form will disqualify the Proposer and the

proposal will not be considered.


This signature page must be completed and submitted with the proposal: Legal Foreclosure Services

PROPOSAL AUTHORIZATION AND SIGNATURE

This proposal must be signed by a responsible official of the offering company and notarized.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Firm Name Authorized Signature (Notarized)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Date Street Address (P.O. Box)

__________________________________________________________________________________

Contractor/Business License No. City, State and Zip Code

__________________________________________________________________________________

Telephone Number Fax Number

__________________________________________________________________________________

Email Address

On this___day of ________________, 20_____ before me ___________________________

(name) to me personally known, being duly sworn, did execute the foregoing proposal, and did so state

that

he/she was properly authorized by _________________________ (Company name) to execute

the proposal and did so on his/her free act and deed.

SEAL

Notary Public_______________________ My commission expires ______________


ATTACHMENT

MINIMUM INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS

Insurance. The Contractor shall procure and maintain insurance against claims for injuries to persons

and damages to property for the duration of the contract which may arise from or in connection with

the performance of work hereunder by the Contractor, his agents, representatives, or subcontractors.

A. Commercial General Liability Insurance. The Contractor shall maintain occurrence version

commercial general liability insurance or equivalent form with a limit of not less than $1,000,000 each

occurrence. If such insurance contains a general aggregate limit, it shall be no less than two times the

occurrence limit. Such insurance shall:

1. Include Duplin County, its officials, officers, and employees as additional insureds with respect

to performance of the Services. The coverage shall contain no special limitation on the scope of

protection afforded to the above listed insureds. Please mail certificate of insurance to Duplin

County Tax Office 117 Beasley St. Kenansville, NC 28349

2. Be primary with respect to any insurance or self-insured retention programs covering the

County, its officials, officers and employees.

B. Business Automobile Liability Insurance. The Contractor shall maintain business automobile liability

insurance or equivalent form with a limit of not less than $1,000,000 each accident. Such insurance shall

include coverage for owned, hired, and non-owned automobiles.

C. Workers’ Compensation and Employers’ Liability Insurance. The Contractor shall maintain workers’

compensation insurance with North Carolina statutory limits and employers’ liability insurance with

limits of not less than $100,000 each employee or each accident.

D. Professional Liability. The Provider shall maintain occurrence version professional liability insurance

or equivalent form with a limit of not less than $1,000,000 each occurrence. If such insurance contains a

general aggregate limit, it shall apply separately to this agreement and be no less than two times the

occurrence limit.

E. Crime Insurance: The provider shall maintain Crime Insurance (Employee Theft/Dishonesty) with a

limit no less than $150,000

F. Other Insurance Requirements. The Contractor shall:

1. Prior to commencement of services, furnish the County with properly executed certificates of

insurance which shall clearly evidence all insurance required in this section. Provide copies of

endorsements and policies, if requested by the County, in lieu of or in addition to certificates of

insurance.


2. Replace certificates, policies, and endorsements for any such insurance expiring prior to

completion of the services.

3. Maintain such insurance from the time services commence until services are completed.

4. Place such insurance with insurers authorized to do business in North Carolina and having

A.M. Best Company ratings of not less than A:VII. Any alternatives to this requirement shall

require written approval of the County’s Risk Manager.

E. The Contractor understands and acknowledges that these insurance coverage requirements are

minimums and that they do not restrict or limit the hold harmless provisions of this agreement.

Documents

Request for Proposals · 2019-08-01 · DUPLIN COUNTY TAX OFFICE | RFP Tax Foreclosure Legal Services 2 All proposals must be firm and not subject to increase, unless specified within