Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Yuma Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have received a letter of warning from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain records of transactions which happened at your store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact 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 take EBT.

About The Program

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

This program and it’s parameters 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

Snap violations occur when a grocery store violates any of the following rules.

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

Your retail store took SNAP benefits 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.

Your store redeemed more coupons than food sales at the same time.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Our law firm has experience handling 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 remove your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will outline 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 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 might still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have ten days to protest the decision. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we’ll file the legal papers to notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners have no issues 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, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your store, you only have 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you don’t 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 lawyers will discredit the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. 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 look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy has to be in writing and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner also has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

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