Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Palo Alto Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have received a letter from the USDA. The notification is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain transactions that happened at your retail store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with get food each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t 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 national level by the federal government.

This program and the benefits that come with it are under handled 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 violations occur when a retail store violates any of the rules below.

The store took part inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting 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 incorrect information on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store took money for more EBT food stamps than food sales during the same period.

The employees of the store accepted SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will lay out violations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once 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 violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will issue a second letter which specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have ten days to appeal the verdict. If you choose not to, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, we file the appeal to notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to change the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our attorneys can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many grocery 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. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know SNAP violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers can challenge the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does large fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy must be in writing at the store 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 to see if the 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.

We highly recommend any owner that receives a allegation letter consult 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.