Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Bradenton Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have been the recipient of a a letter from the USDA. The notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will have transactions that occurred at your store which the government is saying violates one or more genres 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 don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card are not for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. This program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations occur if and when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

The grocery store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

The store submitted incorrect info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store took money for more EBT food stamps than actual food sales during the same period.

The employees of the store have taken SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 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 right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will outline serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send another letter that specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, our team the legal papers and notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase 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 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 don’t run into problems. 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 purchase electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the violations 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 SNAP appeals lawyers will fight the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – 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 look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The retailer must has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that gets 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.