Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Centennial Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. This notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the USDA is saying violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The program is run on a national level by the 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations occur when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store redeemed more coupons than actual food sales at the same time.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning and can happen at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will outline violations, have evidence attached proving 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 violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, our team the appeal and notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process 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 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. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your store, you only have 10 days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose 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. It must be in writing at the store and in effect when the violations were filed.

The grocery store must has to 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 owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

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