Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Nashua Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have been the recipient of a a official warning from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, which will have records of transactions which occurred at your store which the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

The first thing 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 USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

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

The federal and it’s benefits 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 counts as a SNAP violation

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

The grocery store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store took money for 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 appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most letters will outline 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will issue a second letter which outlines the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to protest this verdict. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we file the appeal to notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to override the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy 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 serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will discredit the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. 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 curb violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing at the store 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 wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look 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 managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend 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.