Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Hutchinson Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have received a official warning from the USDA. The notification is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions which occurred at your grocery store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you must speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the recipient lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits 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 legal violations happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting 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 information on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

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 managing SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the violation letter, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the 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. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the appeal to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like 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 are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. 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 buy electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver 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 lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, 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 business owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any owner that receives a letter speak to with a SNAP violation attorney. Failure can result 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.