Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Newark Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a letter from the USDA. This notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions that happened at your store that the government claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you must speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the government will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state where the consumer lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The federal and it’s benefits 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 legal violations happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The retail store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean 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 information on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The store took money for more coupons than actual food sales over the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP appeals letters. We can handle your SNAP Violation appeal 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 right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with no warning can come at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will lay out violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire Spodek Law Group, our lawyers take into their hands 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will issue another letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to protest this decision. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, our team the necessary paperwork and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our attorneys can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP 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. If you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is presented to your retail store, you only have 10 days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond to the allegations 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. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers will challenge the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully imposes 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 at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner also has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look in order to see if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, 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 owner that gets a allegation letter speak to 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.