Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Pittsfield Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have received a letter of warning from the USDA. This notification is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is alleging you are in violation of the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will have transactions that happened at your grocery store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, 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 suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

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

The SNAP 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 counts as a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations happen when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

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

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

Your store submitted false information on the store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store took money for more coupons than actual food sales during the same period.

Your employees 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 experience handling SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the letter is the first step taken by the USDA to remove 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 letters will lay out serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the notice of violation, the USDA might still believe that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest the verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our firm, we’ll file the necessary paperwork and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We 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 limits on how the funds can be used. For example, people getting SNAP benefits 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 serious SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores didn’t know SNAP violations are even happening. Often, dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the violations. Your 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 choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our lawyers will fight the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose large fines to curb violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. The policy must be in writing at the store and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store also 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 retail store 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 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.