Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Novato Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a letter of warning from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain transactions that happened at your grocery store which the government is saying violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, 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 USDA will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to accept EBT payments.

About The SNAP Program

This program helps families with money each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card are not for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. This program is run on a national level by the federal government.

The program and it’s benefits 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 violations occur when a store violates any of the following rules.

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

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

Your store submitted incorrect info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

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

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

Sending the letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will mention serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send 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 appeal this verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we’ll file the legal papers and notify them appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll be able to do 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’s a lot of rules and regulations which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if 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 major SNAP violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, store owners didn’t know the violations were even happening. In many situations, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will discredit the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge 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 the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The retailer must has to 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 check if the owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery 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.