Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Kingsport Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then you might have gotten a notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store which the government claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should 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 suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The benefits on the card are not for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. This program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The federal and the benefits that come with it are under handled by the US 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 violations happen if and when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

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

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

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

Sending the letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the appeal to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief which contains all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. As a retailer, if 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 either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation attorney in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you don’t respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers will challenge the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes large fines to curb 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 at the time the allegations were filed.

The retailer also be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to see if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store 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.