Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Bethlehem Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have received a letter from the USDA. This notice is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions that happened at your grocery store which the government is saying violates one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will terminate/suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program provides families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the card aren’t for general usage, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the consumer lives. This program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

This government 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 happen if and when a store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

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

The store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food at the same time.

The employees of the store have taken 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

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP violation 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 taken by the USDA USDA to remove your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, we handle 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 might still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will issue another letter which specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we file the necessary paperwork and notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, 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 attorneys can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery 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, SNAP recipients cant get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t know SNAP violations were even happening. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order 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 violations. Your failure to respond will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even if 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 will discredit the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store must has to 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 will also look in order to see if the retail 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 store that receives a allegation 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.