You were told no, and the letter didn’t really say why.
Denials read like form letters and they’re not. FNS refuses or withdraws authorization for specific reasons - eligible stock that didn’t meet the staple-food thresholds, a business-integrity concern, an owner connected to a prior sanction, or paperwork that didn’t match what the inspector saw. Each of those is answerable with documents, and each has a deadline that behaves like the sanction deadlines: short, and unforgiving.
We owe loyalty to only you.
When you’re looking online, you have multiple options. There are so many firms advertising SNAP defense. Thankfully, your search is over. Spodek Law Group P.C. offers premier white-glove service and we’re unafraid of fighting. Unlike firms that are more focused on their relationship with the agency than with you, we owe loyalty to only YOU. Your store, your family, your license.
One reason our firm has such a high success rate is that we’re selective about who we work with. If we’re choosing to work with you, it’s because we think we can make a positive impact. That’s vastly different from firms that take on any client willing to pay. When you reach out, you start with a risk-free consultation - and you can ask us anything you want, regardless of how long it takes.
If there’s a way to keep your store in the program, we’ll find it. That’s the whole job.
Four grounds cover almost every denial we read.
A denial is a factual claim about your store. Contradict it.
The inspector saw one hour of one day. Your invoices, your shelf photographs and your supplier records describe the store as it actually operates - and that’s the evidence that moves a denial.
Get the denial reviewedFour kinds of proof answer nearly every denial.
When FNS says no: denials, withdrawals, and how they get reversed
Authorization decisions get far less attention than sanctions and they end just as many stores. A denial or a withdrawal means the terminal never turns on, or stops - and for a small grocery where EBT is a large share of sales, that’s an existential fact rather than an administrative one. The letters tend to be brief and formulaic, which leads owners to assume there’s nothing to answer. There almost always is.
The most common ground is stock. FNS authorization criteria look for depth and variety of staple foods across categories, including perishables, and the assessment happens during a single visit. A delivery that had not landed, a cooler being repaired, or a slow week on produce can produce a finding that doesn’t describe the store at all. That finding is answerable with dated shelf photographs, category counts, and wholesale invoices showing what the store buys in the ordinary course.
The second ground is business integrity, and it’s about people. FNS screens owners and officers for convictions, civil judgments, unpaid federal debt and prior program sanctions. Where a principal was connected to a disqualified firm, the application inherits that history - which is why family restructurings after a sanction so reliably fail. Answering this ground is a documentary exercise about ownership and control, and it has to be precise, because anything that looks like concealment converts a stock question into an integrity question.
Withdrawal after authorization works the same way in reverse. A follow-up visit that finds the store below criteria, an unreported change of ownership, or a business practice the agency reads as inconsistent with the program can end an authorization the store has held for years. Timelines here are short and behave like sanction timelines, so the letter’s stated deadline governs everything.
One strategic point matters more than any other: reapplying without curing the stated ground usually reproduces the same result, and a second denial is harder to unwind than the first. Where the ground is factual and wrong, answer it with evidence now. Where the ground is real - thin staple stock, an integrity problem, an ownership entanglement - fix it, document the fix, and then file. The order of those steps is the difference between six weeks and a year.
If a denial or withdrawal letter is on your desk, call today with the letter and your last month of invoices. The response window is short and the evidence that answers it’s already in your store.
When the biggest cases break, we get the call. That same team answers your ten days.
When the networks need a federal file explained in plain English, they call us.
This bench answers its own phone. Put it on your case.
Tell us what happened. Eight fields, two minutes - and a lawyer reads it today.
Read us the first line of the letter. We’ll tell you what day you’re on.
Bring the envelope, the attachment, and your invoices if you have them. If you don’t have them, bring the letter. The consultation is risk-free, it stays between us, and it happens today - ask us anything, regardless of how long it takes.