Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Altoona Snap Violation Lawyers

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

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely 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 terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

This program provides families with money each month. These benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The funds on the card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. This program is run on a national level by the federal government.

This federal and it’s benefits 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 counts as a SNAP violation

Snap violations happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

The grocery store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

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

Your store redeemed more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food at the same time.

The employees of the store took 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. We can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers 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 violation letter, the USDA may still decide that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the appeal to notify them appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is critical to fix the outcome.

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

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP 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 purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know the violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make 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 SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit 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 on purpose does large fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer also 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 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 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.