Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Fort Wayne Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have gotten a official notice from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the government is saying 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 accept EBT.

About The Program

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

The SNAP federal and it’s benefits 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 happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

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

The grocery store took money for more EBT food stamps than food sales during the same period.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has immense experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

Sending the letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your EBT license. The letter can come with no warning can come at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, we handle 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still believe that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the necessary paperwork to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

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 Court. This next phase is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm 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 grocery 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 probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t know the violations were even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent 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. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy has to be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to check if the owners benefited from the violations, 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 store owner that gets a 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.