Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Miramar Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a letter of warning from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, 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 which happened at your grocery store that the government claims violates one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should 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 terminate/suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

This program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card cannot legally be used for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. The program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

Snap violations occur when a store is in violation of the rules below.

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

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

Your store submitted false information on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

Your employees 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

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP appeals letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the first step taken by the USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The charging letter will contain allegations, but most of them will mention violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will 100% issue another letter that specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest the verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we file the appeal to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal 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 food store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t know the violations are even occurring. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even if 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 lawyers will challenge the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to check if the grocery store owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any owner that receives 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.