Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Broomfield Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a official notice from the USDA. The notice 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, which will contain records of transactions which happened at your grocery store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more groups 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 privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

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

This government and it’s benefits are under handled by the US 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 violations occur if and when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The grocery store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

The store took money for more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food over the same period.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, 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 believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will issue another letter that specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest the decision. If you choose not to, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we file the appeal and notify them we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase 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 food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, USDA’s SNAP program 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 purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even though you don’t 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 will challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. 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 typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to see if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

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