Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Binghamton Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then you might have been the recipient of a a notice from the USDA. This notification is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have records of transactions which happened at your retail store which the USDA is saying violates one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card cannot be used for general usage, 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 where the recipient lives. This program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP program and it’s benefits 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 counts as a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations occur when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

The retail store was involved inthe 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.

The store submitted incorrect information on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food over the same period.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will lay out violations, with an attachment of details. 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter that specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we file the necessary paperwork and notify the government appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll 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. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail 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, people getting SNAP benefits cant get 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 it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer to make 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 claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if 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 SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit 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 purposefully does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing at the store and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store must 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 to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any grocery store owner that gets 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.