Montpelier Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then you might have gotten a official notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will have records of transactions which occurred at your retail store that the USDA claims violates one or more genres of violations.

The first thing 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 don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The funds on this card are not 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 by each state individually where the recipient lives. This program is operated on a national level by the federal government.

The SNAP government 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’s a SNAP Violation

SNAP legal violations happen when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted incorrect info on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store took money for more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food at the same time.

Your employees have taken 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 immense experience handling SNAP appeals letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will lay out serious allegations, with an attachment of details. 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will definitely send a second letter that outlines their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have ten days to protest the decision. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, our team the necessary paperwork to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll 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 grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, USDA’s 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 get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT 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 SNAP violation letter is sent to your retail store, you have only ten 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 if you don’t respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – 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 typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the violations were filed.

The retailer also be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks in order to see if the retail store 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 store 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.