Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Ames Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a official warning from the USDA. The notice 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, which will contain transactions which happened at your retail store that the government claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our 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 grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are distributed with an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is run on a national level by the government.

The federal 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 counts as a SNAP violation

Snap violations occur when a grocery store violates any of the following rules.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales at the same time.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Our law firm has experience managing SNAP violation letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will mention violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the violation letter, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will issue another letter which specifically states the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have ten days to protest the verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, our team the legal papers and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to override the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We 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 retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, the 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, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know the violations were even occurring. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your grocery store, you only have 10 days to respond to the allegations. 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 don’t 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 the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose large 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 at the store and the policy must be when 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 was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to see 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 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.