More than 200 people made their way to the Florence Civic Center Monday to get free help from lawyers appointed to the historic black farmers settlement case.
The ruling says between 1981 and 1996, the U.S. Department of Agriculture discriminated against black farmers who were asking to borrow money
Pamela Mack's late father tried to get money to save his Williamsburg County farm, but couldn't.
"He applied for this loan back in 1982 and he was denied for the loan that he applied for to keep his farm going. So, I'm trying to support what he wanted done in his behalf," said Mack.
Robert Levy of Manning says his late father lost his farm because he couldn't get a loan.
"He was a farmer all his life up until he was denied for the loan back in around '83. He was denied and that was the last year he farmed," said Levy.
This recent settlement of $1.2 billion is the second phase of the class action lawsuit.
Attorneys in the case say in order to be eligible, you had to try to file a claim for the initial settlement but missed the deadline in October of 1999.
"The main qualification is you had to attempt to participate in the initial Pigford action, meaning you had to file the claim form previously or send some type of written documentation indicating that you wanted to participate in the lawsuit, but it was untimely. You were late, " said Greg Francis, Attorney.
It's the only way you can qualify for this second phase.
Lawyers say beware of others telling you differently and charging you a fee.
"It is a complete scam if somebody is charging folks a fee to fill out this form, and I understand they're also promising people they'll get their money very quickly. That's a lie as well," said Pete Strom, Attorney.
The deadline to file a claim for this settlement is May 11th, but you may not see any money until early next year.
A third party will decide if the claims submitted are valid.
