Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Vermont Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have been the recipient of a a notice from the USDA. This notification is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have records of transactions that occurred at your grocery store that the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot be used for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP program and it’s parameters are governed by the US Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The USDA FNS agency enforces the regulations and runs the program.

What counts as a SNAP violation

Snap violations occur when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

The store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

The retail store took SNAP funds in exchange for nonfood items like alcohol, tobacco, or other goods.

The store submitted false info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store took money for more EBT food stamps than food sales at the same time.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP violation letters. We can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will outline violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, our lawyers take into their hands all of the communicationswith the USDA and for compiling all the necessary evidence, and drafting a response to the USDA.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will issue a second letter that specifically states the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our attorneys can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, USDA’s SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, SNAP recipients cant get electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store also has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any owner that gets a violation letter consult with a SNAP violation attorney. Failure can result in negative consequences. The USDA is required by Congress to issue a disqualification for a period of up to 5 years. This can result in huge losses which are hard to recover from.