In a Class Action, one or more people called “Class Representatives” sue on behalf of themselves and other people who have similar claims and allegations. All these people are Plaintiffs and they are considered a “Class”. The people they are suing are called the Defendants.

If the Class receives certification, as it did here, one Court decides the issues in the lawsuit for all Class members, except for those who ask to exclude themselves from the Class.

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You are not being sued. You can choose whether to participate in the Settlement. Your options are explained in the Notice, which is also available here.

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No. You, and all other Class Members, are represented by Class Counsel at no cost to you. Class Counsel are lawyers appointed by the Court to look after the interests of the Class Members. While it is not necessary for you to get your own lawyer, you have the right to do so. However, you would have to pay for that lawyer with your own money.

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No. You have no legal obligation to participate in a Class Action. However, we suggest that you examine your available options before deciding whether to participate or not. Your rights are affected even if you do nothing.

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Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Class. Excluding yourself – sometimes called opting out - is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Class or Settlement.

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No. You cannot do both. If you object, you will stay in the Class, and be bound by the Court’s decisions and the final terms of the Settlement no matter whether you file a claim.

If you exclude yourself, or “opt out”, you are no longer a Class Member and will not be bound by the final outcome of the Settlement no matter what might happen as the result of the Fairness Hearing and any objections that may have been considered.

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No. If you exclude yourself from the Settlement, then you cannot file a claim or otherwise participate in the Settlement.

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No. The Cobell lawsuit is against the U.S. Department of the Interior and claims mis-management of individual Indian trust accounts. This lawsuit is against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and claims that the USDA discriminated against Native American farmers and ranchers who applied for or attempted to apply for farm loans and loan servicing. For more information on the difference between Cobell and Keepseagle, please click here.

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No. The Court has approved the Settlement therefore the money will be paid. No action is required by Congress.

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The lawsuit claims that the USDA denied thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers the same opportunities to get farm loans or loan servicing that were given to white farmers and ranchers. Plaintiffs also claim that the USDA did not do outreach to Native American farmers and ranchers or provide them with the technical assistance they needed to prepare applications for loans and loan servicing.

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The USDA will pay $760 million to settle the lawsuit. After deducting certain amounts, including attorneys’ fees and awards, two funds will be created. The first fund will pay Class Members who submit valid claims. The second fund will provide up to $80 million for full or partial loan forgiveness to qualifying Class Members. In addition, the USDA will pay up to $20 million (not included in $760 million) for the costs of administering the settlement.

If any money remains in the Settlement Fund after all payments to class members and expenses have been paid, then it will be donated to one or more organizations that have provided agricultural, business assistance, or advocacy services to Native Americans.

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The Settlement provides for improvements in the delivery of Farm Loan Program services to Native Americans. Those changes include:

• Creating a Council for Native American Farming and Ranching. The Council will include Native American, Alaska Native leaders, Farm Service Agency (“FSA”) and USDA officials and will meet twice a year. This Council will be responsible for ensuring the farm loan program is fully responsive to the particular needs of the Native American and Alaska Native farmers and ranchers.
• Creating a position for a USDA Ombudsperson for Native and Other Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers to serve as a point of contact for these farming and ranching communities and to track civil rights complaints and address any related programmatic issues.
• Reviewing farm loan program guidelines, considering suggestions from Class Counsel and the Council for Native American Farming and Ranching to make them more responsive to the needs of Native Americans.
• Improving the oversight of farm loan program operations.
• Enhancing the ability of Native Americans to continue to farm and ranch by establishing 10-15 regional venues to provide technical training and support and developing a plain language guide to the application for farm loans and loan servicing. If funds are available, the USDA will also fund and staff consolidated sub-offices at Tribal Headquarters on Indian Reservations.

For Class Members who show evidence of discrimination in the claims process, for a certain period of time the USDA has also agreed to suspend foreclosures, debt acceleration payments, and referring to the Treasury requests to offset or withhold other federal benefits that are used to pay down outstanding loans.

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Class Members are eligible to participate. The Class includes all Native American farmers and ranchers who:

• Farmed or ranched or attempted to farm or ranch between January 1, 1981 and November 24, 1999; and
• Sought, or attempted to seek, a farm loan from the USDA during that period; and
• Complained about discrimination to the USDA orally or in writing on their own or through a representative, such as a tribal government, during the same time period.

Excluded are claims of class members who either:

• Experienced discrimination only between January 1 and November 23, 1997; or
• Complained of discrimination only between July 1 and November 23, 1997.

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This is an unusual feature of the laws which affect this case. There are two different laws which determine the dates for an acceptable claim. Neither one of these laws cover the January 1, 1997 to November 23, 1997 time period for discriminatory conduct or the July 1, 1997 to November 23, 1997 time period for discrimination claims.

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A Native American includes any person who meets one or more of the requirements listed below:

• Is a member of a tribe, band, nation, or community, including any Alaska Native village or regional or village corporation (as established in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) which is recognized as eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians, also known as a “federally recognized tribe,” or
• Is a member of any Indian group that has been formally recognized as an Indian tribe by a State legislature or other similar organization vested with State tribal recognition authority, also known as a “state recognized tribe,” or
• Is a member of any Indian tribe or “Native group” (according to 43 U.S.C. § 1602.(c) and (d)) that asked the United States government for Federal recognition, or
• Represented himself or herself as a Native American before November 24, 1999. This can be confirmed by providing:
  • A credible written narrative, submitted under “penalty of perjury” (under oath), describing in detail the circumstances of his or her Native American ancestry that will convince the independent evaluators that it is genuine.

For the purposes of this Settlement, membership in an Indian tribe will be defined by the laws or rules of the Indian tribe in which you say you are a member. You will need to verify your tribal membership by providing a copy of an official tribal document that states that you are a member of the Indian tribe, such as:

• An identification card that states that you are currently a member of the Indian tribe, or
• A letter or statement from the tribal government that states that you are regarded as a member of the Indian tribe.

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Your actual payment cannot be determined yet. The amount of money you are eligible to receive will depend on whether you file a claim under Track A or Track B. It will also depend on the total number of Class Members who make successful claims.

In order to receive a share of the money in the Settlement, you must file a claim through either the Track A or Track B procedure.

Track A – If you file a claim on this track and your claim is successful, you may get a payment up to $50,000 for your discrimination claim. You will also be eligible to get an additional 25% of that amount which will be paid directly to the IRS to reduce any income tax you may owe on the money awarded to you. The amount that will actually be paid to those who qualify will depend upon the number of Class Members who make successful claims through Track A.

Track B – If you file a claim on this track and your claim is successful, you may get a payment up to up to $250,000 for your discrimination claim. Track B requires more proof of discrimination than Track A and likely the help of a lawyer. The amount that will actually be paid to those who qualify will depend upon the number of Class Members who make successful claims through Track B. For more information on filing a Track B claim, please click here.

USDA Loan Forgiveness – USDA will provide up to $80 million to forgive outstanding loans of qualifying Class Members who file a successful claim through Track A or Track B. If you have certain USDA loans you may be eligible for loan forgiveness as well as an additional payment made to the IRS of 25% of the loan forgiven to reduce any income tax you may owe.

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An independent evaluator will review claims made through Track A and Track B and determine how much you should be paid. For Track B claims only, an experienced agricultural economist may assist the independent evaluator in assessing the financial value of your claims.

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The records of potential Class Members are incomplete. All Class Members who request a Notice or Claims Package via the Settlement website or by calling the toll-free number will be mailed a Notice.Claims Packages will begin mailing June 29, 2011. You may still request a Claims Package via the Settlement website or by calling the toll-free number.

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The claim filing deadline for the Keepseagle settlement was December 27, 2011. All determinations on claims have been issued at this time. Deadlines to exclude yourself or object have also no passed.

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If you do nothing, you will not get any money or loan forgiveness from the Settlement. You will be bound by the Court’s decisions. Unless you exclude yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against the USDA about the legal issues in this case, ever again.

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Unless you exclude yourself from the Settlement, you can’t sue the USDA, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against the USDA about the legal issues in this case. It also means that all of the decisions by the Court will bind you. The “Release of Claims” is described more fully in Section XVIII of the Settlement Agreement and describes exactly the legal claims that you give up if you remain in the Settlement. The Settlement Agreement is available here.

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The deadline to submit an objection to the Court was February 28, 2011.

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The deadline to exclude yourself from the Settlement was February 28, 2011.

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The Court has appointed several law firms to represent you as “Class Counsel.” The law firms are: Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll [www.cohenmilstein.com]; Conlon, Frantz & Phelan [www.conlonfrantz.com]; Jenner & Block [www.jenner.com]; Patton Boggs [www.pattonboggs.com]; Stinson Morrison Hecker [www.stinson.com]; and Sarah Vogel Law Firm [www.svlawpartners.com]. You do not have to pay Class Counsel. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, and have that lawyer appear in court for you in this case, you may hire one at your own expense.

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All discovery (or research) was completed, and the lawsuit was nearly ready to go to trial when both sides in the case entered into the Settlement Agreement. The counsel for the plaintiff class submitted a request to the Court for preliminary approval of the Settlement on October 22, 2010. The Court has granted preliminary approval of the proposed Agreement, and approved the plan for issuing notice to potential class members. A final fairness hearing at which the Court will decide whether or not to approve the Settlement took place on April 28, 2011 and the Court has approved the Settlement. The deadline for claims submission is December 27, 2011.

On March 26, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request by two objectors for review of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling affirming the district court’s decision approving the plan for distribution of the remaining funds. That ruling provided for a payment of $18,500 to each prevailing claimant, along with $2,775 to the IRS on behalf of each claimant. Checks were mailed on May 21, 2018. Please allow at least 10 business days for your check to arrive given the intervening holiday. If you are a prevailing claimant and have an issue with your check, you can reach the Settlement Administrator at or via email at .

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Yes. If people register in advance for a meeting and note their translator needs, we will arrange for translation services, or schedule an alternative meeting when a translator can be available if necessary.

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Yes. Eligible farm loans include operating loans, emergency loans, including economic emergency loans, and farm ownership loans.

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This settlement only addresses the farm loan and loan servicing programs described above, and not other activities of USDA.

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No. Our specific involvement and responsibilities are to provide information and assistance to callers who may be Class Members wanting to know how to participate in this Settlement. We are unable to provide the type of assistance or advice about other issues. We can only suggest that you contact the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Civil Rights. Here is their information:

USDA Farm Service Agency, Office of Civil Rights
Compliance and Program Analysis Branch
Telephone Numbers


You may send a written complaint to the following address:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Under the Settlement Agreement, a moratorium went into effect on November 1, 2010 which temporarily bars USDA from accelerating payment schedules, foreclosing on loans, or initiating offsets. USDA has confirmed this moratorium in Notice FLP-577 (a copy is available on the Documents page of this website). Any FSA loan owed by a Native American borrower, which was not already in foreclosure as of November 1, 2010, is subject to the moratorium until after the claims process is completed in the Keepseagle settlement. If the borrower does not make a claim in Keepseagle, or if their claim is unsuccessful, then USDA may begin foreclosure or other actions. If the borrower makes a successful claim, at least part of their outstanding debt will be forgiven, and they will be eligible for a new round of loan servicing consideration as to any remaining debt.

Even though there is a moratorium in effect, if you are behind in your loan payments, USDA may send you a form called “Notice of Availability of Loan Servicing to Borrowers Who Are 90 Days Past Due” that says if you do not bring your loan current that USDA may accelerate and foreclose on your loan. Although USDA cannot accelerate or foreclose during the moratorium, this is only temporary. Because a claimant may not be successful, or may be successful but not obtain full forgiveness of all debt, Class Counsel urges everyone who receives a notice from USDA that they are at risk of foreclosure or acceleration to apply for loan servicing within the deadlines established by USDA.

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No. Because these cases address the same types of claims, a person may only file a claim and get a payment in one case. If you have already participated in Pigford, you will not be permitted to file a claim in this case. If you have requested to file a claim in Pigford II, you will not be awarded relief in this Settlement unless you withdraw your claim in Pigford II before the Claim Deadline in this case.

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Yes, but then you cannot make a claim in connection with the Love case. Because these cases address the same types of claims, a person may only file a claim and get a payment one case. You can make a claim either in this Settlement or in the Love case, but not both.

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Yes, but then you cannot make a claim in connection with the Love case. Because these cases address the same types of claims, a person may only file a claim and get a payment one case. You can make a claim either in this Settlement or in the Love case, but not both.

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No. This settlement only addresses the farm loan and loan servicing programs described above, and not other activities of the USDA.

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You may obtain more information by periodically visiting the case website or by calling .

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The USDA will pay $760 million to settle the lawsuit. After deducting certain amounts, including attorneys’ fees and awards, $80 million will be available for USDA loan forgiveness, and the remaining money will be distributed in cash to Class Members who submit valid claims.

Your actual payment cannot be determined yet. The amount of money you are eligible to receive will depend on whether you file a claim under Track A or Track B. It will also be based on the total number of successful claims that are filed.

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All determinations on claims have been issued at this time. Initial Payments to eligible Class Members began mailing in 2012.

On March 26, 2018 the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request by two objectors for review of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling affirming the district court’s decision approving the plan for distribution of the remaining funds. That ruling provided for a payment of $18,500 to each prevailing claimant, along with $2,775 to the IRS on behalf of each claimant. Checks were mailed on May 21, 2018. Please allow at least 10 business days for your check to arrive given the intervening holiday. If you are a prevailing claimant and have an issue with your check, you can reach the Settlement Administrator at or via email at .

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Yes. However, for awards made under Track A and for Debt Relief Awards, an additional payment of 25% of the amount of the award will be paid directly to the IRS to reduce the income tax you may owe. The amount of the cash award will be determined after all claims have been evaluated.

If you file a claim and are approved under Track B, you can get the amount of your actual damages up to $250,000, but unlike Track A, you will be responsible for any taxes you may owe. Under Track B, you are not eligible for a tax award; except for on any Debt Relief Award you receive.

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You will want to bring your proof of Native American status, and any documents you believe will be helpful to your case. You may also bring your claim form with any notes including things you want to talk about with the lawyers.

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Co-applicants are individuals who jointly applied to the USDA for a farm loan. Commonly this would be husband and wife, brothers/sisters, or business partners who jointly own and operate a farm together. Co-claimants are class members submitting claims under the Settlement who were or would have been Co-applicants had they applied for a loan from USDA. The claims process provides for only one payment for each farm operation with a successful claim, not one payment per person, and thus co-applicants will become Co-claimants and receive one award if their claim is successful.

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You may submit a claim at anytime. Unfortunately at this time, the Keepseagle claim filing deadline cannot be extended for any circumstances. All submissions received after December 27, 2011 will be considered late, and therefore, ineligible to receive an award from the Settlement.

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