Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Pinellas Park Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have gotten a letter from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions that 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 legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is operated on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The government 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 grocery store violates any of the following rules.

The grocery store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the 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 incorrect info on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The store took money for more coupons than food sales at the same time.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violation letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters will outline violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire our law firm, 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will issue a second letter which specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the 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. Once you hire our law firm, we’ll file the appeal and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal 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 food store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know the violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your grocery store, you only have 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver 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 the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing and in effect when the violations were filed.

The grocery store 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 will also look in order to see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store owner that receives a allegation letter consult 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.