Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Newport Beach Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. The notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, which will have records of transactions which happened at your store which the government is saying is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely speak to our our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

This program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed via an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. The program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The federal 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 violations occur if and when a grocery store violates any of the following rules.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting 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 incorrect information on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store took money for more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food during the same period.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

The charging letter is the first step taken by the USDA to remove your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will outline serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After 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 violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will definitely send another letter which specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the accusations previously mentioned. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, our team the necessary paperwork and notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal federal 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’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. 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 buy electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t know the violations are even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation attorney 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 violations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing at the store and in effect when the violations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look to check if the grocery 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 owner that receives a allegation 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.