Pursuant to the authority at FAR Subpart 5.203(a) and in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b)(2), this notice serves as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) preliminary notice of intent to negotiate on a sole sources basis with Mary Bilinski, Vienna VA, for mortgage borrower survey consultation services.

FHFA requires the services of a mortgage finance expert with subject matter expertise in mortgage finance survey design to assist the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) in the implementation of the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) and the annual American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB). The NSMO and the ASMB and associated services are part of the National Mortgage Database (NMDB) project, a joint effort of the FHFA and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The survey specialist will provide expertise in questionnaire design and testing timeframes, and assist FHFA and CFPB by coordinating with third parties to ensure the quarterly and annual surveys stay on plan, on budget, within the agreed upon timelines, and according to project specifications.

The FHFA/CFPB NMDB is directly modeled on the Freddie Mac prototype questionnaire that Ms. Bilinski developed for Freddie Mac. Ms. Bilinski is uniquely qualified to perform these same functions for FHFA. She has previously managed complex survey projects, and in the case of the Freddie Mac surveys, her expertise and efforts have contributed directly to Freddie Mac achieving an unusually high 60 percent response rate to a mail survey.

Under her current contract with FHFA, Ms. Bilinski, from September 2016 through June 27, 2019 coordinated exchanges of data between FHFA and Experian and Westat (Experian's subcontractor) to facilitate first the National Survey of Mortgage Originations and in 2016, the ASMB.  Ms. Bilinski provides FHFA with a top-line summary of the performance of the most recent ASMB and NSMO surveys, with specific emphasis of the effectiveness of each question, the overall response rate of the survey, changes to data cleaning rules, and response patterns of groups of questions. She has assisted in the management of these complex survey projects since 2012 for FHFA and her expertise and efforts has contributed directly to FHFA achieving unusually high response rates to mail surveys. Each of these surveys required special handling to comply with Fair Credit Reporting Act and Privacy Act requirements. This experience is critical to possessing the expertise required to assist FHFA with the NSMB efforts.  Ms. Bilinski is uniquely qualified to continue to perform the same functions and duties for FHFA.

In accordance with FAR 5.207(c)(16)(ii), vendors that feel they can meet the Government's requirement detailed below may submit a capability statement which shall be considered by the agency. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement to competition based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

1. Contractor must possess demonstrated, current subject matter expertise in mortgage finance.
2. Contractor must possess demonstrated, current subject matter expertise in mortgage borrower survey and questionnaire design.
3. Contractor must possess experience in survey implementation under the constraints of the Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA).
4. Contractor must possess demonstrated ability to manage complex survey projects including coordinating with third party entities (to include credit repositories and marketing research firms) and government agencies in addition to possessing the necessary subject matter expertise in mortgage finance.
5. Contractor must possess demonstrated experience in coordinating exchanges of data between credit bureau and survey fulfillment contractors subject to the constraints of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, to ensure that personally identifiable information (PII) is not divulged, and the survey mailing is executed on time and according to project specifications.
6. Contractor must possess recent working knowledge of the design, execution and analysis of Freddie Mac national mortgage borrower surveys, to include coordinating exchanges of data between Freddie Mac and private companies such as Experian, ICF, Inc. or Westat, in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Privacy Act requirements.

A purchase order will be awarded on a labor hour basis with a maximum of 375 hours per year. The Government anticipates a one-year performance period and up to four one-year option periods. The Government estimate is $280,000-$310,000 over a five-year period. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for this requirement is 541910, Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling. The small business size standard is $15M.