Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Beverly Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have gotten a letter from the USDA. The notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store which the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP program and the benefits that come with it are governed by the United States 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 when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted false info on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food during the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most letters will detail serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once you hire our law firm, 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 notice of violation, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which specifically states the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the legal papers and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like 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 normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant get electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer 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 claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will fight the decision 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 will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the allegations were filed.

The store owner must has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look in order to see if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or were aware of the violation. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any owner that receives a allegation 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.