Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Hillsboro Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a letter from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which happened at your store that the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card are not for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is operated on a nationwide level by the government.

This government and it’s parameters 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations happen when a retail store is in violation of the rules below.

The store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted incorrect info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than food sales during the same period.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will detail violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, 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 specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest this verdict. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, we file the necessary paperwork to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the 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 food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing 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 didn’t even know the violations were even happening. Often, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your retail store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can fight the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the above mentioned 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 owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that gets a letter consult 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.