Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have received a notice from the USDA. This notice is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions which occurred at your store that the USDA is saying violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card aren’t for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the consumer lives. The program is run on a national level by the federal government.

The government and the benefits that come with it are governed by the US 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 happen when a store is in violation of the rules below.

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

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

The store submitted false info on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food over the same period.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will detail violations, with an attachment of details. 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the violation letter, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter that outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, our team the necessary paperwork to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers 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 law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your retail store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you don’t 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 will fight the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – 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 look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing and the policy must be when the allegations 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 will also look in order to check if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, 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 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.