Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Citrus Heights Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have gotten a official warning from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain transactions that occurred at your store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, 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 USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card are not for general use, and they can’t be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The program is operated on a national level by the government.

The 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 is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is 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.

The store submitted incorrect information on the grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food during the same period.

Your employees accepted SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has experience managing SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning and can appear at any time. The charging letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will mention serious allegations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, 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 violation letter, the USDA might still decide that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the necessary paperwork and notify the USDA 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, evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no problems 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, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know the violations were even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your retail store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make 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. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing and in effect when the violations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store that receives a violation letter speak to 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.