Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Rhode Island Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then may have been the recipient of a a official notice from the USDA. This notification is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, which will contain records of transactions which occurred at your store which the USDA is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores privilege to take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

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

The SNAP government and it’s benefits are governed 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 violations happen when a store violates any of the rules below.

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

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

The store submitted false info on your store’s application to accept EBT benefits.

The store redeemed more coupons than sale of actual food during the same period.

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

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

Sending the letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters 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, our lawyers 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still feel that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will issue another letter which outlines the agencies legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the alleged violations. Like before, you have ten days to protest this verdict. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the appeal and notify them appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to change the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal 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 grocery store retailer, there’s a lot of rules and regulations you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many retail store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, USDA’s 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 probably get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were even occurring. In many situations, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your retail store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Failure to respond will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you choose not to 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 challenge the findings 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 will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It must be in writing and the policy must be at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer must has to be able to prove the compliance policy was in place before the charge, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to check if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any owner that gets a violation 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.