Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Livonia Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have been the recipient of a a notice from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you have violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain transactions which occurred at your retail store that the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you must speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The funds on the card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The program is run on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP program and the benefits that come with it are under handled by the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The USDA FNS agency enforces the regulations and runs the program.

What’s a SNAP Violation

SNAP legal violations happen when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The grocery store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales at the same time.

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send another letter that outlines the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, we’ll file the legal papers and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, 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’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure 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 violations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even if you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing and in effect when the violations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to check if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that receives a violation 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.