Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Kentwood Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have received a official warning from the USDA. The notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have transactions which occurred at your store which the USDA claims violates one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your stores ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and the benefits that come with it 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 counts as a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a store violates any of the following rules.

The retail store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

Your employees accepted SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violation letters. We can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your EBT license. The letter can 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 serious allegations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the violation letter, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have ten days to appeal this decision. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the necessary paperwork and notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll be able to do 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 you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, USDA’s 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 get 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 know the violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, 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 will challenge the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The store owner 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 to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend 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.