Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Dover Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a official notice from the USDA. The letter is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions which occurred at your grocery store that the government claims violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you must contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot be used for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits are governed by the United States 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 legal violations happen when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The grocery store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales at the same time.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

The charging letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will mention serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, we take into their hands all of the communicationswith the USDA and for compiling all the necessary evidence, and drafting a response to the USDA.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the violation letter, the USDA might still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will 100% issue another letter which specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have ten days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant purchase electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. Often, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing and the policy must be when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look in order to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store owner that gets a letter speak to with a SNAP violation attorney. Choosing not to respond 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.