Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Dublin Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have received a official warning from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain transactions which happened at your retail store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent 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 program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The program 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted false information on the grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store accepted 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 experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will outline serious allegations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, 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 notice of violation, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter which specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest the verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the legal papers and notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and we will draft generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a major violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t know SNAP violations are even happening. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes large fines to in order to curb future 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 retailer must has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look in order to check if the owners benefited from the violations, 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 violation 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.