Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

National City Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have been the recipient of a a letter of warning from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have records of transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the government claims violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing 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 choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The cards took over for 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 government.

The SNAP federal and the benefits that come with it 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 legal violations happen if and when a store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

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

Your store took money for more coupons than food sales during the same period.

Your employees accepted SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning and can happen at any time. The charging letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will outline violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. 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 notice of violation, the USDA might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter which outlines the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, our team the legal papers and notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process 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 which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many grocery 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, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t know the violations are even happening. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your retail store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will fight the findings of the USDA and appeal 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 huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the violations were filed.

The store owner must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to check if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or if the 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 violation 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.