FYI Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers Claims Process

[Trent Teegerstrom]

All-- FYI

Thanks,
Trent

On September 24, 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary 
Tom Vilsack announced the opening of the claims period for the 
Hispanic and Women Farmers and Ranchers Claims Process. Hispanic and 
women farmers and ranchers who allege discrimination by the USDA in 
past decades can file claims between September 24, 2012 and March 25, 
2013. The process offers a voluntary alternative to litigation for 
each Hispanic or female farmer and rancher who can prove that the 
USDA denied their applications for loan or loan servicing assistance 
based on discriminatory reasons for certain time periods between 1981 
and 2000. The voluntary claims process will make available at least 
$1.33 billion for cash awards and tax relief payments, plus up to 
$160 million in farm debt relief, to eligible Hispanic and women 
farmers and ranchers. There are no filing fees to participate in the program.

For more information, please visit:

<http://www.farmersclaims.gov>www.farmerclaims.gov

Public Service Announcements, Ads, etc. (all available in English & Spanish)

<http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=PSAs_Print_and_WebBanner_Ads.xml>http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentidonly=true&contentid=PSAs_Print_and_WebBanner_Ads.xml

  For potential lawyers/legal advice:

Farmers Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG) and the National Agricultural 
Law Center (NALC) are assisting in the development of a legal 
assistance network of attorneys to assist claimants in the completion 
of the official HWFRCP Claim Form.  The legal assistance network will 
be published and publicly available on the National Agricultural Law 
Center website so that claimants and others can easily access the information.

Please note, however, that a claimant is not required to be assisted 
by an attorney in order to complete and submit the official USDA 
HWFRCP Claims Form. In addition, the attorney need not be listed in 
the legal assistance network in order to assist a claimant.

If you or anyone you know is an attorney interested in being publicly 
listed in the legal assistance network, please contact the National 
Agricultural Law Center (NALC) at 
<mailto:nataglaw at uark.edu>nataglaw at uark.edu with your name, 
appropriate contact information, state(s) in which you are licensed 
to practice law, and the corresponding bar license number(s). Once 
the information is received, a link to a training video as well as 
written training materials will be sent to you along with any other 
necessary information.  Following is a link to NALC:

<http://nationalaglawcenter.org/usda-claims/>http://nationalaglawcenter.org/usda-claims/

Thank you again.
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