Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Oakland Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have gotten a letter from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain records of transactions that occurred at your retail store which the government claims violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with money each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this 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 which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is run on a national level by the government.

The SNAP federal and it’s parameters 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations occur when a store violates any of the following rules.

The retail store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

The store submitted false information on the grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food during the same period.

The employees of the store have taken SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Our law firm has experience managing SNAP appeals letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will detail serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire our law firm, our lawyers handle 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 a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter which outlines the governments legal verdict 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 lawyers, we file the legal papers to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief which contains all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers 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 cases, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know the violations are even happening. Often, it’s dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers will fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing and in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look in order to check if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any owner that receives a allegation letter speak to 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.