(a) Any person who believes that he/she or any specific class of individuals is being or has been subjected to discrimination by SBA, a recipient, or an applicant for assistance, prohibited by this part may, by himself/herself or by a representative, file with SBA a written complaint. The complainant has the right to have a representative at all stages of the complaint procedure.

(b) A complaint must be filed not later than 180 days from the date of the alleged discrimination, unless the time filing is extended by SBA. The Adminstrator, the Assistant Administrator, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Civil Rights Compliance, are the only officials who may waive the 180-day time limit for filing complaints under this part. SBA will consider the date a complaint is filed to be the date upon which the complaint is sufficient to be processed.

(c) Each complaint will be reviewed to ensure that it falls within the coverage of the Act and contains all information necessary for further processing.

(d) SBA will attempt to facilitate the filing of complaints wherever possible, including taking the following actions:

(1) Accepting as a sufficient complaint, any written statement which identifies the parties involved and the date the complainant first had knowledge of the alleged violation, describes generally the action or practice complained of, and is signed by the complainant.

(2) Freely permitting a complainant to add information to the complaint to meet the requirements of a sufficient complaint.

(3) Notifying the complainant and the recipient of their rights and obligations under the complaint procedure, including the right to have a representative at all stages of the complaint procedure.

(4) Notifying the complainant and the recipient (or their representatives) of their right to contact the Assistant Administrator, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity & Civil Rights Compliance, for information and assistance regarding the complaint resolution process.

(e) SBA will return to the complainant any complaint filed under the jurisdiction of this regulation, but found to be outside the jurisdiction of this regulation, and will state the reason(s) why it is outside the jurisdiction of this regulation.