Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Erie Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have been the recipient of a a notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

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 don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card cannot be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. The program is run on a national level by the federal government.

The federal and it’s benefits 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 occur if and when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

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

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

The store submitted false information on the grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The store took money for more coupons than food sales at the same time.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention serious allegations, with an attachment of details. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail 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. After you hire our law firm, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our attorneys 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, USDA’s SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t know the violations were even happening. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will discredit the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It must be in writing and the policy must be when the violations were filed.

The retailer 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 to check 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.

We highly recommend any grocery 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.