Sources Sought
FEMA Request for Information - Direct Housing Modernization Capabilities
Department of Homeland Security · Federal Emergency Management Agency
AI summaryFEMA's Office of Direct Housing Operations is asking industry for information (a request for information, or RFI: market research, not a bid) on software that finds rental homes after disasters, matches survivors to them and checks accessibility. Written responses go by email to the contracting officer and are due December 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern. No set-aside is used, and no contract is being awarded from this notice. More in the summary
Market research, not a bid. Replying is free and tells Federal Emergency Management Agency who could do this work. Send a short reply to the contracting contact; no price is needed. See the contact
AI summary Beta
FEMA's Office of Direct Housing Operations is asking industry for information (a request for information, or RFI: market research, not a bid) on software that finds rental homes after disasters, matches survivors to them and checks accessibility. Written responses go by email to the contracting officer and are due December 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern. No set-aside is used, and no contract is being awarded from this notice.
How to submit: Email questions and RFI responses to the contracting officer at Rachel.Woods@fema.dhs.gov; phone calls will not be accepted. What to include is under Full summary below. Check the solicitation's instructions on SAM.gov.
Things to watch (4)
From the version posted Oct 19, 2026.
- Worth checking: Federal cloud security expected. FEMA is asking about FISMA Moderate compliance and FedRAMP-authorized hosting, which a small software firm may not hold yet.
- Minor: Market research only, no award. This RFI is not a request for proposals and does not commit the Government to a contract; any later solicitation would be posted separately on SAM.gov.
- Minor: Strict page and format limits. Responses over the page limit or in other formats may not be reviewed as asked.
Show all 4Show fewer
- Minor: Two NAICS codes listed. SAM.gov lists NAICS 541512, while the notice text and RFI also name 531210 (offices of real estate agents and brokers); ask the contracting officer which size standard would apply.
Read from the notice and 1 attachment. Show which files.
- FEMA 2026 Direct Housing Modernization Capabilities RFI.pdf (read)
Full summary
What they want
- Automated sourcing of rental listings from listing services, property management software and landlord portals, with real-time vacancy checks and geo-fencing of disaster zones
- Artificial intelligence (AI) matching of survivor households to properties by commute, schools, healthcare and household size
- Automated checks of unit accessibility against the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including computer vision on photos and floor plans
- Landlord outreach, self-service portals, lease templates and electronic signature workflows
- Secure federal cloud architecture: FISMA Moderate, FedRAMP-authorized hosting (or a path to Moderate/High), and protection of survivors' personal information
- Answers to 12 RFI questions, including a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost model
- Contract type
- Not stated. This is an RFI (market research); no solicitation has been issued
- Period of performance
- Anticipated start date: TBD
- Place of performance
- USA
- Estimated value
- Not stated
- Offers due
- December 18, 2026, 12:00 PM Eastern
- How to submit
- Email questions and RFI responses to the contracting officer at Rachel.Woods@fema.dhs.gov; phone calls will not be accepted
- Page limits
- Answers to RFI questions: no more than 10 pages. Contractor capability statement: no more than 2 pages. The 1-page cover page and the capability statement are not counted in the 10 pages
What to include when you submit
- Put "RFI Response for Modernization of Direct Lease Temporary Housing Sourcing and Capabilities" in the email subject line
- Send an unclassified response in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf), on 8.5 by 11 inch pages with 11-point or larger type (10-point for charts, graphs and tables)
- Cover page: company name, address, UEI (unique entity ID), point of contact with name, title, phone and email, business size and socioeconomic status under NAICS 541512/531210, and any GSA Schedule, DHS Strategic Sourcing Vehicle or other contract vehicle
- Contractor capability statement of no more than two pages: relevant experience, similar projects, geographic coverage, past performance and core technical capabilities
- Answer the RFI questions to the extent practicable; you are not required to answer every question
- Clearly mark proprietary information and leave out promotional materials
Current contractor
No incumbent is named. The RFI says current property finding and matching is done manually by contracted property finders and FEMA staff.
Not in the notice text
- Whether a solicitation will follow, and its contract type, size and period of performance, are not stated
- Any set-aside for a later solicitation is not stated; SAM.gov shows no set-aside for this RFI
- The Government's budget or value is not given; the RFI only asks respondents for a rough order of magnitude cost model
Eligibility and how to respond
- No set-aside. Any business can reply: this is market research, and no bid is being taken yet.
- To respond, send a short reply to the contracting contact near the top of this page. No price is needed.
Notice details
- Posted
- Oct 19, 2026
- Notice type
- Sources Sought
- Office
- FEMA, Washington, DC
- Product/service code
- X1FA · Lease/Rental of Family Housing Facilities
- Business type
- IT, software & telecom (FedReady's grouping, from NAICS 541512)
- Attachments
Past awards and competition
Who has won work like this before, the likely incumbent, and what similar contracts paid, from USAspending.gov.
Before you respond
Terms on this notice: Sources sought notice
Full notice text from SAM.gov
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