Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Tracy Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have received a letter from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have transactions that happened at your store that the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the government will suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The Program

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

The federal and it’s parameters 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 violations happen when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

The store submitted false info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store took money for more EBT food stamps than actual food sales at the same time.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will detail violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter that specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we’ll file the appeal to notify them 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 needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal 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 grocery store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your retail store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will make 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 can discredit the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does large 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 in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The store owner also has to 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 in order to check if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

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