Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Independence Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have been the recipient of a a letter of warning from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions that occurred at your store that the USDA claims violates one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card cannot legally be used for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the government.

This federal 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 legal violations occur when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

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

Your grocery store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food over the same period.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the first step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most letters will lay out serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire our law firm, we 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 notice of violation, the USDA may still believe 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 store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, we’ll file the appeal and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

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

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were even occurring. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your retail store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will generate a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes huge 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 at the store and in effect when the violations were filed.

The store owner also be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any grocery store owner that receives a violation 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.