Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Chesapeake Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a letter from the USDA. The letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will have transactions which happened at your 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 speak to our our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with money each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot 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 the card is issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. The program is run on a nationwide level by the government.

The SNAP federal and the benefits that come with it are under handled by the US 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 violations happen if and when a grocery store violates any of the following rules.

The store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

The retail store accepted SNAP benefits 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.

The store took money for more coupons than food sales during the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with no warning and can appear at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers 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 notice of violation, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will issue another letter that specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to protest this decision. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we file the appeal to notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to overturn 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 federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, 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 may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations were even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look 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 receives 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.