Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Bryan Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have gotten a letter from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store that the USDA is saying violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the USDA will terminate/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 distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The benefits 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 the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. This program is operated on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The government and the benefits that come with it are under handled by the US 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 grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

The store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

The retail store accepted SNAP funds 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 store redeemed more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food at the same time.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

Sending the 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, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will definitely send another letter which specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the decision, in the Administrative Review, we will 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 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 which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, USDA’s 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 should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even occurring. Often, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does large fines to in order to curb future 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 when the violations were filed.

The store owner also has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look in order to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. 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. Failure can result 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.