FH Cann & Associates, Inc. (B-422308.5, B-422308.6)
You should not care.
Categories: Technical evaluation, number of awards, quality control
Date: 3 December 2025
URL: https://www.gao.gov/products/b-422308.5,b-422308.6
FH Cann protests the establishment of five blanket purchase agreements for Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service private debt collection program—the federal government's mechanism for collecting delinquent non-tax debts under the Debt Collection Improvement Act. The BPAs were awarded to CBE Group, Coast Professional, Continental Service Group, Pioneer Credit Recovery, and Transworld Systems, making FH Cann the only eligible vendor excluded. This was the agency's second attempt at award after taking corrective action in response to a Court of Federal Claims protest, during which the Fiscal Service reassessed its portfolio and increased the awardee pool from four to five.
FH Cann challenged virtually every aspect of the evaluation. GAO denied or dismissed each ground.
Number of awards: FH Cann argued the agency arbitrarily increased the awardee pool from four to five, pointing to a 2023 acquisition review documenting the intent to award four BPAs. GAO found the solicitation contemplated "multiple single-award BPAs" without specifying a number, and the acquisition review itself stated "at least 4" awards. The agency reasonably exercised business judgment in reassessing its debt portfolio years later.
Technical approach: The agency assessed three weaknesses: an inaccurate administrative wage garnishment workflow, a lack of creative problem-solving, and insufficient detail on future integration of new processes. FH Cann argued its five strengths should outweigh three weaknesses for a "very good" rating. GAO rejected this ratio-based approach—the solicitation defined "very good" as containing "only a few minor weaknesses," not as a function of the strength-to-weakness ratio.
Quality control: FH Cann received a weakness for limited call monitoring detail and an "extremely low" volume of reviewed calls. The protester argued one individual evaluator would have given a higher rating. GAO held that individual evaluator notes need not track the consensus report and that call volume was reasonably subsumed within the stated criterion of metrics "likely to result in a successful outcome."
Prior experience: The agency assessed a weakness for FH Cann's lack of commercial debt experience. The protester argued the solicitation only required nontax federal debt experience. GAO disagreed—the solicitation required relevant experience "of similar size, scope, and complexity," and commercial debt was integral to the contract scope, appearing in six of fourteen debt categories and as a phase one pass/fail minimum.
Price/fee negotiations: FH Cann argued the agency failed to negotiate commission fees as contemplated by the solicitation, instead presenting a take-it-or-leave-it fee schedule. GAO dismissed this as untimely—FH Cann accepted the fee schedule on 30 April and did not protest until after the 3 July award, well beyond the ten-day filing window.
The protest is denied in part and dismissed in part.
Digest
- Protest challenging the agency's decision to increase the number of awards due to a reevaluation of its needs is denied where the agency's determination was reasonable and consistent with the solicitation.
- Protest challenging the evaluation of the protester's quotation under various evaluation factors is denied where the agency's evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation.
- Protest challenging the agency's establishment of a fee commission schedule under the price factor that vendors could only accept or reject during fee negotiations is dismissed as untimely where the protest was filed after award.
Comments ()