Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Malden Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have gotten a letter of warning from the USDA. This notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions that happened at your store that the government claims violates one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you must contact our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

This program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The funds on the card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The program is operated on a nationwide level by the government.

The federal 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 counts as a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations occur if and when a retail store is in violation of the following rules.

The store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect information on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food 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 appeals letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with no warning and can happen at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will lay out serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. 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 lawyers, our team the necessary paperwork and notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal 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’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t know SNAP violations were even happening. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the violations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you don’t 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 will fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The penalties imposed can be huge – 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. It must be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer also be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to check if the 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 violation 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.