RTC's Garrity Contract

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed a Resolution Trust Corporation's (RTC) sole-source contract for consulting services, focusing on whether: (1) RTC followed its policies and procedures in issuing a noncompetitive contract; (2) RTC properly supported the contract payments; and (3) the contract constituted a prohibited personal services contract. GAO found that RTC: (1) complied with all its procedures except those for contractor registration, fitness and integrity certification, and a background investigation prior to issuing the noncompetitive contract, which it did after contract award; (2) adequately supported all but one contract payment and obtained payment approval under appropriate internal controls; (3) paid the contractor for hours worked before the contract was in effect, because it believed it was obligated to pay for those services; and (4) as a mixed-ownership government corporation, was not subject to federal acquisition regulations on personal services contracts.