Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Muncie Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then you might have gotten a letter of warning from the USDA. The notification is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have transactions that happened at your grocery store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The funds on the EBT card are not for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. This program is operated on a national level by the government.

The program and the benefits that come with it 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

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

The retail store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food at the same time.

Your employees accepted SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has immense experience managing SNAP appeals letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 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 right to take EBT benefits. This comes with no warning and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will lay out serious allegations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. 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 violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will issue another letter that specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have ten days to protest this verdict. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we’ll file the necessary paperwork and 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 legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal federal court 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 food store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many retail 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 purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, store owners didn’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation attorney to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your retail store, you only have 10 days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully 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 when the violations were filed.

The store owner 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 to check if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that gets a letter speak to with a SNAP violation attorney. Failure can result 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.