Columbus Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have been the recipient of a a official warning from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain transactions that occurred at your store that the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers with an EBT card. The benefits on this card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back transactions. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the recipient lives. This program is run on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits are governed by the US 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 happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales during the same period.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Our law firm has immense experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter will have allegations in it, 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 take into their hands 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 might still decide that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter that specifically states the governments legal verdict 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. Once you hire our law firm, our team the legal papers to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal 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 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 buy 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 may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, it’s dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will generate a verdict even if you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose large fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery 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.