Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Greensboro Snap Violation Attorneys

There has been a recent rise in the number of official USDA notices sent to retailers that accept EBT transactions. The letters are an official notification that the retailer has violated terms of the SNAP program. These letters are usually accompanied by attachments that detail specific transactions made by the retailer that violated SNAP terms.

Retailers that have received notifications of SNAP violations from the USDA should contact our offices immediately for assistance with this very serious matter.

Overview Of The Snap Benefits Program

The SNAP program is intended the subsidize the income of low-income American families with monthly cash payments and monthly food allotments. These payments are loaded to a card that functions similarly to a debit card known as an EBT card. The usage of EBT funds is restricted to family necessities and any attempt to utilize the card for cash back services is considered to be an act of fraud.

SNAP is a federal program that is managed at the state level. EBT cards are issued by the state of residence and replace the food stamp system that the government used in past years.

The USDA is the agency in charge of establishing and enforcing the rules and regulations of the SNAP program.

What Constitutes A SNAP Violation

Any of the following violations would constitute a violation of the SNAP benefits program.

• A store that participates in the illegal trafficking of SNAP benefits. This could entail the theft of SNAP benefits from consumers or knowingly accepting SNAP benefits that were gained by dishonest means.
• A store accepts payments from SNAP benefits for items that are disallowed by the SNAP benefits program. Some of the prohibited items are alcohol, tobacco, and lottery tickets. There are many other prohibited items.
• A store gave false or fictitious information while applying to accept EBT payments.
• A store is found to redeem more in EBT payment than food sold in a given time period.
• A store or its employees accept SNAP payments from individuals that are ineligible to receive SNAP benefits.

Process for Investigating Violations

SNAP benefit violation letters are the first step in the process that could result in the USDA revoking a store’s privilege to accept EBT payments. This notification can be issued with or without prior warnings of wrongdoing on the part of the store. A store has ten days to respond to a SNAP violation notification.

Once reviewing a store’s answer to notifications of alleged SNAP violations, The USDA will then make a determination as to whether or to not to further pursue the matter. If choosing to pursue further, The USDA will then notify the store of specific legal action it intends to take against the store. Again, store owners have ten days to reply to this notification.

Failure to answer this letter within the designated time parameters will render storeowners unable to protest any action taken by the USDA.

When To Hire A Lawyer

Defending against alleged SNAP violations is a complex matter that a storeowner should not seek to undertake on their own. The earlier in the process the store owner secures the counsel of a competent attorney to help with this matter the better the prospects are that the store owner will be allowed to continue accepting EBT benefits.

A skilled SNAP violations attorney will possess the experience and expertise to successfully navigate the the SNAP benefits violation process which could include multiple complex filings and briefings.

Failure to properly address this matter can result in severe consequences for store owners. The United States Congress has mandated that the USDA disqualify store owners for a period of five calendar years when found to be in violation of SNAP benefits program terms and policies. For many store owners, a loss of this magnitude would cause it to become impossible for their business to survive.