Fair housing organizations and other non-profits that receive funding through the Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) assist people who believe they have been victims of housing discrimination.
FHIP organizations partner with HUD to help people identify government agencies that handle complaints of housing discrimination. They also conduct preliminary investigation of claims, including sending "testers" to properties suspected of practicing housing discrimination. Testers are minorities and whites with the same financial qualifications who evaluate whether housing providers treat equally-qualified people differently.
The Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI) offers a range of assistance to the nationwide network of fair housing groups. This initiative funds non-profit fair housing organizations to carry out testing and enforcement activities to prevent or eliminate discriminatory housing practices.
Eligible activities include, but are not limited to:
- Intake of allegations of housing discrimination, testing, evaluating testing results, and providing other investigative work to provide a just resolution for discrimination that may violate federal, state or substantially equivalent local fair housing laws;
- investigation of systemic housing discrimination, through testing and other investigative methods;
- Mediation or other voluntary resolution of allegations of fair housing; and
- litigating fair housing cases, including procuring expert witnesses. PEI-Multi-year applicants should structure their activities to allow for flexibility from year to year. HUD will allow applicants under the PEI-Multi-year to modify their activities with the approval of the GTR each year based upon changing demographics and/or need.