Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Chico Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. This notification is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have transactions which occurred at your retail store that the government is saying is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

This program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card are not for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is operated on a nationwide level by the government.

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

What counts as a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The grocery store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect information on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food over the same period.

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters will lay out violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter that specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we’ll file the legal papers and notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal 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 food store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP 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 buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your store, you only have 10 days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will fight the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully 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. The policy has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look to see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that receives 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.