Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Lynwood Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a notice from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your retail store that the government claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed with an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

This government and it’s parameters 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 happen if and when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

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

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

The store submitted false information on the grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

Your employees took SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP appeals letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning can come at any time. The violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. 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 might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which outlines the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the necessary paperwork to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed 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. The Judicial Appeal 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 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, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t even know the violations are even occurring. Often, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the decision 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 look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to check if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, 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 allegation letter speak to 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.