Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Plano Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have gotten a notice from the USDA. This letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will have transactions that happened at your store that the government is saying violates one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

This program provides families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are given with an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card cannot be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state where the recipient lives. This program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The program 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations occur when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The retail store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

The store submitted incorrect info on the retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store accepted SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Our law firm has immense experience managing SNAP violation letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will lay out violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire Spodek Law Group, 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 a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that outlines the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we file the legal papers to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. We can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a grocery store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, 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 purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a major SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t know SNAP violations are even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you don’t 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 can challenge the decision of the USDA and fight any decision. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It must be in writing and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks to check if the retail store 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 grocery store 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.