Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Simi Valley Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have gotten a official warning from the USDA. This notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions that occurred at your retail store which the USDA claims violates one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are given via an EBT card. The benefits on this card aren’t for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The program is run on a nationwide level by the government.

This 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 legal violations occur if and when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

Your store submitted false information on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

Sending the letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning can come at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will detail serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still believe that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will issue a second letter which outlines the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the legal papers to notify them appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase 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 food store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose 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. It must be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the allegations were filed.

The store owner also 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 see if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that gets a 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.