Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Hobbs 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. The notification 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 letter, and it will have records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store that the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The funds on the EBT card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. The program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

This federal and it’s parameters 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 violations occur if and when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

Your store submitted false info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

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

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 immense experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your EBT license. This comes with no warning can come at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most letters will lay out serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After 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 notice of violation, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send another letter which outlines the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have ten days to appeal the verdict. If you don’t, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the legal papers to notify them appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

In the event 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 federal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, 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 purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. Often, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even if you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes large 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 when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look in order to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that receives a letter speak to 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.