Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Moorhead Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain records of transactions which occurred at your retail store that the USDA is saying violates one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government 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. The SNAP program benefits are given with an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the consumer lives. The program is run on a national level by the federal government.

This federal and the benefits that come with it 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’s a SNAP Violation

Snap violations occur if and when a store violates any of the following rules.

The grocery store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

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

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP appeals letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will detail violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, we 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 might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter which specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the legal papers to notify the USDA appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event 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 be able to do 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 grocery store owners don’t run into problems. 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. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t even know SNAP violations were even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the violations were filed.

The retailer also has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look to check if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that receives a violation 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.