Wallace Asset Management, LLC v. United States

125 Fed. Cl. 718, 2016 U.S. Claims LEXIS 320, 2016 WL 1587532
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJanuary 13, 2016
DocketNo. 15-1527C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 125 Fed. Cl. 718 (Wallace Asset Management, LLC v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wallace Asset Management, LLC v. United States, 125 Fed. Cl. 718, 2016 U.S. Claims LEXIS 320, 2016 WL 1587532 (uscfc 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTIONS FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER AND FOR A PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

GRIGGSBY, Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Wallace Asset Management, LLC, brought this post-award bid protest matter challenging the decision of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to award five contracts to provide field service management services to BLM Companies, LLC. Wallace has filed motions for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction requesting that the Court enjoin BLM from commencing performance under the contracts. For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Wallace’s motions for a temporary restraining order and for a preliminary injunction.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

A. Factual Background

The relevant facts in this case are not in dispute. Plaintiff, Wallace Asset Management, LLC (“Wallace”), is a disappointed offeror in connection with the award of several government contracts to provide field service management (“FSM”) services for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”). See generally Compl. Wallace has brought this bid protest action challenging HUD’s August 27, 2015 and September 28, 2015 decisions to award these contracts to BLM Companies, LLC (“BLM”). A374-75. In this action, Wallace seeks to, among other things, enjoin BLM from commencing performance under the subject contracts until this matter is resolved. See PL Mot. for TRO at 1-2; PI. Mot. at 2.

1. The Request For Proposals

The Federal Housing Administration (“FHA”), a division of HUD, “insures approved lenders against the risk of loss on mortgages obtained with FHA financing.” A99. If there is a default on a mortgage, the mortgage lender may reclaim the property, file a claim for insurance benefits, and convey the property to HUD. Id. HUD manages the conveyed property for eventual sale. Id. [722]*722HUD contracts for the maintenance of these properties via FSM contracts. Id. Contractors performing FSM contracts “provide property maintenance and preservation services,” including “inspecting the property, securing the property, performing cosmetic enhancements/repairs, and providing on-going maintenance.” A102.

On May 22, 2014, HUD issued Request for Proposals No. DU204SA-13-R-0004 (“RFP”) to provide FSM services in eight different geographic areas located across the United States. A72; A84; A258. Under the terms of the RFP, HUD would award one indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract, consisting of one base year and four option years, in each of the eight geographic areas. A72; A87; A396.

Wallace and BLM both submitted proposals for FSM contracts in five of the eight geographic areas covered by the RFP. A284; A292; A320; A325; A334. Namely, Wallace and BLM submitted proposals in area ID, encompassing Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Northern Texas; area IP, encompassing Michigan; area 3P, encompassing Maine, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Connecticut; area 4P encompassing Ohio; and area 5P, encompassing West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. Id.; A373-75. In addition, BLM submitted proposals for FSM contracts in the remaining three areas not at issue in this case. See A286; A288; A290. Several other contractors also submitted proposals in response to the RFP. A284; A286; A288; A290; A292; A320; A325; A334.

The RFP provided that the government would conduct the solicitation using a Performance Price Trade-Off (“PPT”) methodology. A248. Under the RFP, technical approach would be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Id. If an offeror’s proposal was deemed technically acceptable, HUD would then evaluate offerors’ past/present performance and price. Id. The RFP provided that the past/present performance and price factors were of equal value. Id.

a. Technical Approach

With respect to the technical approach factor under the RFP, HUD rated the proposals submitted by Wallace and BLM as technically acceptable. A292; A295; A320; A325; A334. And so, both proposals advanced to the next round of the evaluation. Id.

b. Past/Present Performance

With respect to the past/present performance factor, the RFP required that offerors submit information about their past or present performance on other contracts for field management services. All-12; A374. Alternatively, in the event that an offeror did not have any relevant past contract experience, the RFP provided that:

Offerors or joint venture partners that either have no prior contracts or do not possess relevant corporate Pasi/Present Performance, but have key personnel with relevant past performance while employed by another company(s), may demonstrate the performance of such key personnel by submitting the names, letter of commitment and summary sheets for three of the most recent and relevant contracts under which such key personnel performed the same role currently being proposed on the instant acquisition.

A12.

Wallace addressed the pasVpresent performance factor in each of its proposals by identifying three past efforts related to FSM services and also proposing at least five key personnel who worked for other FSM contractors. A341-3; A367-70. HUD determined that the three past efforts identified by Wallace were not relevant and, thus, rated Wallace as neutral/unknown confidence. A296; A317; A321; A326; A335; A341. Specifically, HUD determined that the first effort was not relevant because Wallace failed to provide the volume of properties that Wallace managed under the contract. A341; A367; A369. HUD also found that the two other efforts cited by Wallace “did not meet the scope of work requirement of the solicitation.” A367; A369. In addition, HUD determined that Wallace had failed to specify which key personnel with relevant experience would be committed to a particular contract area. A380. And so, HUD concluded that the past/present performance of the five key personnel was also not relevant and rated [723]*723Wallace’s proposal with respect to this factor as neutral/unknown confidence. A296; A317; A321; A326; A335; A341; A380.

BLM addressed the past/present performance factor in its proposal by submitting three past subcontracting efforts. A264-66. For each of the five areas at issue, HUD determined BLM had “successfully performed most of the scope of this solicitation through 8 efforts as a subcontractor on 3 FSM contracts with superior ratings throughout the service period in the areas of Quality of Product, Schedule, Cost, Business Relations, and Management of Key Personnel.” Id. And so, HUD rated BLM’s proposal with respect to the past/present performance factor as good/significant confidence. A296; A316; A321; A326; A335.

c. Price

Lastly, with respect to the price factor, Wallace’s proposed price was higher than BLM’s proposed price for each of the five FSM contracts in dispute. A295; A292; A320; A325; A334. For area ID, BLM’s proposed price was $112,969,979.00, whereas Wallace’s proposed price was $192,453,895.00. A295. For area IP, BLM’s proposed price was $73,262,899.00, and Wallace’s proposed price was $86,762,390.00. A334.

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125 Fed. Cl. 718, 2016 U.S. Claims LEXIS 320, 2016 WL 1587532, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wallace-asset-management-llc-v-united-states-uscfc-2016.