Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Deerfield Beach Snap Violation Lawyers

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

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should 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 stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with money each month. These benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on this card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t 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 recipient lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

This government 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations happen if and when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

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

The store redeemed more EBT food stamps than food sales over the same period.

Your employees 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 immense experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with no warning and can happen at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. 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.

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 issue a second letter which outlines the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we file the appeal and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal 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. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no issues adhering to them. 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 get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can fight the decision 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 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 has to be in writing and in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The store owner 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 typically also looks 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 owner that gets 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.