Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Orange Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have gotten a official notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have records of transactions which happened at your grocery store which the government claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers with an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the card cannot legally be used for general use, and they cannot be used for cash back transactions. 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 operated on a nationwide level by the government.

The SNAP federal 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations occur if and when a store violates any of the following rules.

The retail store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

Your store submitted incorrect information on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store have taken SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has immense experience handling SNAP violation letters. Our team of attorneys 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, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will outline serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, we handle 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 violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, they’ll will definitely send another letter that specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the appeal and notify the USDA we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process 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 food store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most normal situations, many retail 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, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. If, and when, you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even happening. In many situations, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation attorney to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will make a verdict even though you don’t 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 can fight the findings of the USDA and fight any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing at the store and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The retailer must has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to check if the owners benefited from the violations, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that gets a 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.