Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Mount Prospect Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a official notice from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have records of transactions which happened at your store that the government is saying violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card aren’t for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent 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 federal government.

This federal and it’s parameters are governed by the US 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 happen when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

The store submitted false info on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store took money for more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food during the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will mention violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers handle 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 decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will definitely send another letter that specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, our team the legal papers to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, 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. Our attorneys can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your retail store, you only have 10 days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond will permanently crush 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. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can fight 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 purposefully does 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 must be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store must has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any grocery store owner that receives a allegation letter speak to 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.