Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Bellevue Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. The letter is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your store which the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

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

This federal and it’s benefits 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 store violates any of the following rules.

The retail store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect information on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The store redeemed more coupons than food sales during the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP appeals 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 which is taken by the USDA 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 has a variety of allegations, but most letters will lay out serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send another letter that specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the 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 firm, we file the appeal to notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal federal court 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 food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, SNAP recipients cant get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t know the violations are even occurring. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. In addition, 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. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The store owner must be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to see if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store owner that receives a violation 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.