Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Perris Snap Violation Lawyers

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

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card are not for general use, 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 by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

This federal and it’s benefits are governed 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 legal violations happen when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

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

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

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

Your grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales over the same period.

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The charging letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. 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 believe that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter which outlines their 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, our team the necessary paperwork to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event 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 case, where you’ll be able to do 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’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, USDA’s SNAP program 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 get electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver 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 fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing and in effect when the violations were filed.

The store owner also 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 business owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

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