Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

White Plains 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 from the USDA. The notification is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions which happened at your retail store that the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

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

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot be used for general use, 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. The program is operated on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations happen when a retail store is in violation of the rules below.

The store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is 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.

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

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

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most letters will outline violations, with an attachment of details. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, 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 may still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter that outlines their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we file the appeal and notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal 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 grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, 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, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably 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 a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation attorney to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the violations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm 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 cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to see if the owners benefited in any way from the fraud, 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 receives a letter speak to 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.