Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Turlock Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a letter from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions that happened at your store which the government claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot be used for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the consumer lives. The program is run on a national level by the government.

The SNAP government and the benefits that come with it 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 violations occur when a grocery store violates any of the rules below.

The store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store redeemed more coupons than food sales during the same period.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will lay out serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire our law firm, our lawyers 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter that outlines their decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal this verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, our team the appeal to notify them appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers 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 cases, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe fines. If you conduct a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations were even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond to the violations 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 won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and fight 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 in order to curb future 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 in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner also 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 typically also looks to check if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store owner that receives 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.