(a) The Private Enforcement Initiative provides funding on a single-year or multi-year basis, to investigate violations and obtain enforcement of the rights granted under the Fair Housing Act or State or local laws that provide rights and remedies for discriminatory housing practices that are substantially equivalent to the rights and remedies provided in the Fair Housing Act. Multi-year funding may be contingent upon annual performance reviews and annual appropriations.

(b) Organizations that are eligible to receive assistance under the Private Enforcement Initiative are:

(1) Qualified fair housing enforcement organizations.

(2) Fair housing enforcement organizations with at least 1 year of experience in complaint intake, complaint investigation, testing for fair housing violations and enforcement of meritorious claims. For the purpose of meeting this 1 year qualification period, it is not necessary that the activities were conducted simultaneously, as long as each activity was conducted for 1 year. It is also not necessary for the activities to have been conducted for a continuous year. An organization may aggregate its experience in each activity over the 2-year period preceding its application to meet this 1 year qualification period requirement.