Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Montana Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then may have gotten a notice from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain transactions which occurred at your store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely speak to our our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card aren’t for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back services. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the consumer lives. This program is operated on a nationwide level by the federal government.

This government and it’s benefits are under handled by the United States 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 legal violations occur when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

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

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

The store submitted incorrect information on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

Sending the 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, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will outline serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. 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 notice of violation, the USDA may still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter which outlines the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, our team the legal papers to notify them appeal the decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to override 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. Our law firm 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 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, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations were even happening. Often, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT 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 charge letter is presented to your grocery store, you only have 10 days to respond to the claims. 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. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can challenge the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes huge fines to curb violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store 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 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 to see if the owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any owner that receives a allegation 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.