Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Nampa Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have gotten a letter of warning from the USDA. This notification is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions which happened at your store which the government claims violates one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should speak to our our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers through an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually which the SNAP participant lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the government.

This program and the benefits that come with it are governed by the US Code and the Code of Federal Regulations. The USDA FNS agency enforces the regulations and runs the program.

What counts as a SNAP violation

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

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false info on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than food sales over the same period.

The employees of the store have taken SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Spodek Law Group has immense experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP action.

The charging letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters will mention violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire our law firm, we take into their hands 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 might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will issue a second letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to appeal this decision. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the legal papers to notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to override the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers 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, the SNAP program 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 probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe fines. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you only have 10 days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can discredit the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large 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 and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The store owner must 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 see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that receives a violation letter consult 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.