Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Nashville-Davidson Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have received a official notice from the USDA. The letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have records of transactions that occurred at your grocery store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you must speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will suspend your stores ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

This program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card cannot be used 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 are issued in the state where the recipient lives. The program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The government and it’s parameters 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 counts as a SNAP violation

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

The grocery store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

Your store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food during the same period.

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

Our law firm has experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will mention 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, we 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 might still believe that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to protest the verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we file the appeal to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the binding 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 law firm can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant buy electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations were even occurring. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation lawyer to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your retail store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Your failure to respond to the violations 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 won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will discredit the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. 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. The policy has to be in writing and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks in order to see if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

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