Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Jacksonville Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have received a notice from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have records of transactions which occurred at your store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you must speak to our our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card are not for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP federal and the benefits that come with it are under handled by the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The USDA FNS agency enforces the regulations and runs the program.

What does it mean to have a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations occur when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted incorrect info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food over the same period.

The employees of the store accepted SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Our law firm has immense experience handling SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will outline violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we’ll file the appeal to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal 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 grocery 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, SNAP 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 purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your retail store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though 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 can challenge the findings 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 purposefully does large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The store owner must has to be able to prove the compliance 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 grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any grocery store owner that gets a violation letter consult 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.