Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Poway Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have gotten a letter of warning from the USDA. The notification is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which happened at your store that the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on this card aren’t for general usage, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back services. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the consumer lives. The program is operated on a nationwide level by the government.

The federal and it’s parameters 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 legal violations happen if and when a retail store is in violation of the rules below.

The retail store is accused ofthe 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 info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more coupons than actual 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

Spodek Law Group has experience handling SNAP violations letters. We can handle your SNAP violation process in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The charging letter contain details about alleged violations, but most of them will detail serious allegations, with an attachment of details. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter which outlines their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to appeal the verdict. If you don’t, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the necessary paperwork and notify them we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is needed to change the outcome of the violations.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This process is like a normal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our law firm 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 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, SNAP recipients cant buy electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations are even happening. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to discuss your case with a SNAP violation attorney in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your grocery store, you only have ten days to respond to the allegations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even though 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 lawyers will discredit the decision of the USDA and fight any penalties. The fines imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose large fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy has to be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA typically also looks to see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any 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.