SAM #FEMA_2026_Direct_Housing_Modernization_Capabilities_RFI

FEMA RFI for Direct Lease Housing Modernization Capabilities

FEMA is seeking industry input on modernizing temporary Direct Lease housing sourcing and placement for disaster survivors. - Government buyer: Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Office of Direct Housing Operations. - Opportunity: Market research RFI for capabilities and rough-order-of-magnitude (ROM) cost models; it is not a request for proposals or a commitment to award a contract. - OEMs and vendors: No OEMs, vendors, or specific commercial products are named in the notice. - Requested capabilities: - Aggregate rental listings from MLS services, property-management APIs, rental platforms, and landlord portals; validate vacancies in real time and identify properties near disaster zones and reasonable commute areas. - Match survivor households with available properties using household needs and location factors such as schools, work, medical providers, and essential services. Align housing size with HUD Housing Quality Standards and FEMA occupancy guidance. - Assess property information, photos, and floor plans for accessibility against UFAS and ADA standards, including ramps, ground-floor access, grab bars, and accessible kitchens and bathrooms. - Automate landlord outreach and property submission, lease-term acceptance, inspection coordination, government lease templates, and electronic signatures. - Provide secure federal cloud architecture to protect survivors’ sensitive personally identifiable information (PII), with FISMA Moderate compliance and FedRAMP authorization or readiness at the Moderate or High level. - Additional areas of interest: Surge capacity, inspections, lease execution, rent tracking, delivery approach, FedRAMP status, and ROM cost models. - Products and quantities: No specific products, part numbers, or purchase quantities are requested. - Period: Vendor performance dates and duration are not specified. Eligible Direct Lease temporary housing placements may last up to 18 months; this is not stated as the contractor’s period of performance.

Description

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulations Overhaul (RFO) 15.101(c). This RFI does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or Request for Quotation (RFQ), and it is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract, nor will the Government pay for the information submitted in response to this request. All information contained in this RFI is preliminary and is subject to change if, and when, a solicitation is issued. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. If a competitive solicitation is released, it will be synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) website. It is the responsibility of the interested parties to monitor this site for additional information pertaining to this RFI, or future solicitations.

The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Office of Direct Housing Operations, is conducting market research to identify and seek capabilities from industry in five primary functional areas:

Automated Real Estate Aggregation and Vacancy Sourcing

- Automated discovery and ingestion of residential rental property listings via Multiple Listing Services (MLS), property management software APIs, commercial rental boards, and direct landlord entry portals.

- Real-time vacancy validation to prevent matching against obsolete or unavailable listings.

- Rapid geo-fencing within disaster-declared zones and surrounding reasonable-commute perimeters.

Artificial Intelligence and Algorithmic Matching

- Multi-constraint matching algorithms that pair applicant household profiles with available properties in seconds.

- Multi-point geospatial proximity optimization factoring in school district retention, work commutes, medical/provider travel distance, and essential services.

- Household composition sizing aligned with HUD Housing Quality Standards (HQS) and FEMA occupancy guidelines.

Automated Physical Accessibility Verification

- Algorithmic filtering and computer vision inspection tools capable of evaluating floor plans, entry photos, and property specifications against UFAS and ADA physical accessibility standards.

- Rapid identification of barrier-free environments, ramps, ground-floor units, grab bars, and wheelchair-accessible kitchens and bathrooms.

Landlord Engagement and Leasing Workflow Automation

- Automated outreach tools and self-service portals for landlords to submit properties, accept lease terms, and coordinate inspections.

- Integration with standard government lease templates and automated electronic signature workflows.

Secure Federal Architecture

- Enterprise data security architecture compliant with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) at the Moderate impact baseline.

- FedRAMP-authorized cloud hosting (or capability to achieve FedRAMP Moderate/High authorization).

- Strict data protection for Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to disaster survivors.

NAICS CODE: 541512 (Computer Systems Design Services) / 531210 (Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers)

PRODUCT SERVICE CODE (PSC): X1FA, Lease/Rental of Family Housing Facilities

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: TBD

RFI RESPONSE SUBMITTAL INSTRUCTIONS: Interested contractors shall submit Questions and RFI responses electronically to the Contracting Officer, at Rachel.Woods@fema.dhs.gov no later than 12:00PM Eastern Time (ET), December 18, 2026. Phone calls will not be accepted.

Please see the attachment for further instructions and information. 

View original listing