Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Muskogee Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a notice from the USDA. This letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have transactions that happened at your grocery store that the government claims violates one or more categories 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 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 to consumers through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card are not 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 by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. This program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP government 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 counts as a SNAP violation

Snap violations happen when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

Your grocery store accepted 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.

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

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

The charging letter is the first step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning and can appear at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will detail 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, 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, the USDA will definitely send another letter which specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal this verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, our team the appeal and notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners have no problems 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 purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your retail store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though 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 the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing and in effect at the time 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 will also look in order to check if the grocery store 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.

It’s highly recommended any store owner that gets a 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.