Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Shoreline Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have gotten a notice from the USDA. This notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain transactions which occurred at your store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

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

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card cannot 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 by each state individually where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP government and it’s parameters 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 when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The grocery store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

The retail store accepted 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.

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

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with no warning and can happen at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most of them will detail serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, we 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 believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the necessary paperwork and notify the government appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to override the decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District 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. Our law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your retail store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond 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 won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can fight the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The store owner must be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to see if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store owner that gets a allegation 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.