Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

North Miami Beach Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have gotten a notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you must contact our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

This program provides families with get food each month. These benefits are given through an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot be used for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent 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 run on a nationwide level by the government.

The government and it’s parameters 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’s a SNAP Violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

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

Your store took money for more coupons than food sales over the same period.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all 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 no warning can come at any time. The violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will detail violations, with an attachment of details. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, our lawyers 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 might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter that specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to protest the decision. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to change the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, the SNAP program 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 buy 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 serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your retail store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims. Your 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 cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes large 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 allegations were filed.

The store owner must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to see if the owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any owner that gets a violation letter consult with a SNAP violation attorney. Failure can result 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.