Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Jonesboro Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a letter of warning from the USDA. The letter is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain records of transactions that happened at your grocery store that the government claims violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely 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 SNAP Program

This program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card are not for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The program is run on a national level by the government.

The federal and the benefits that come with it 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 counts as a SNAP violation

Snap violations occur when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking 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 your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your store redeemed more coupons than actual food sales over the same period.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

The charging letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The charging letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will mention serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers handle 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 violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue another letter that specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have ten days to appeal this decision. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we file the necessary paperwork to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, 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 get electronic goods. If, and when, 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 SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations are even happening. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose 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 at the store and in effect when the violations were filed.

The grocery store must has to be able to prove the above mentioned 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 grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that gets a 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.