Congress finally passed the 2007 Farm Bill in 2008. One component to it is an amendment that will allow more than 60 thousand LATE CLAIMS to the now historic PIGFORD VS USDA CLASS ACTION. However, many people are under the impression that the law suit has been reopened. BFAA makes it very clear that the law suit is not re-opened for new claims. Hopefully people are not being taken in by those who would mislead them.
From what we here at BFFA understand, here is how the new legislation works:
You must have a letter from the Arbitrator saying that you were denied because your claim was late. If you have lost your letter, then the Monitor’s Office (1-877-924-7483) will have a Tracking Number for you. The Monitor’s Office is open Monday - Friday. Even if you cannot find your letter, if you truly have a late claim, your name will be there.
Then you will need to get an attorney. What congress has done only allows for you to see if you qualify as a Pigford Claimant. You will still need to prove that you or your relative was discriminated against.
If you need an attorney, we can suggest that you contact the Land Loss Prevention Project (LLPP) in North Carolina at 1-800-672-5839 or you contact Chestnut and Sanders at 1-866-492-6200 or 334-975-9264 in Alabama
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact the BFAA office at 252-826-2800.
Hopefully everyone is aware that BFAA is a volunteer organization and any contributions are gladly accepted in order that we might be able to keep the organization going. There is no paid staff.
