Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Lancaster Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have gotten a official notice from the USDA. The letter is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will have records of transactions that happened at your retail store which the USDA is saying violates one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely speak to our 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 SNAP Program

This program helps families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits are under handled by the US 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 legal violations happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store took money for more coupons than food sales over the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings can come 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. After 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still believe that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will issue a second letter that specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we file the necessary paperwork to notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. 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, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. Often, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your retail store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will fight 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 purposefully chooses to impose large fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer must has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look to see if the owners benefited in any way from the fraud, 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 grocery store owner that receives a violation letter consult 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.