Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Ormond Beach Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have been the recipient of a a letter from the USDA. This notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions that occurred at your grocery store that the USDA is saying violates one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, 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 stores ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card are not for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The program is run on a national level by the government.

This government and it’s parameters 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

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

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

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

Your store submitted false information on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has immense experience managing SNAP violation letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with no warning and can appear at any time. The charging letter contain details about alleged violations, but most letters will outline violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to protest the verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we file the necessary paperwork to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like 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 are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, 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 limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t even know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult 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 ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate 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 a fighting change. Our lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner must has to be able to prove the above mentioned 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 grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store that gets a allegation letter speak to 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.