Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

College Station Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a official warning from the USDA. The letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your retail store which the USDA claims violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should 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 privilege to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

This program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed with an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card cannot be used for general use, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the consumer lives. This program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP program and the benefits that come with it 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’s a SNAP Violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The grocery store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing 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 sale of actual food over the same period.

The employees of the store accepted 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 experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will detail violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, we 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter which 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. After you hire our firm, we file the appeal to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the violations. Failure to respond will permanently harm 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. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store that receives a allegation letter consult 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.