Richmond Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have received a notice from the USDA. The notice is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have records of transactions that happened at your store which the government claims is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will terminate/suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT payments.

About The Program

This program helps families with money each month. These benefits are distributed through an EBT card. The benefits on this card cannot be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and the card is issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. This program is operated on a national level by the government.

The federal and it’s benefits are governed by the United States 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 if and when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

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

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

Your store submitted false info on your retail stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales over the same period.

Your employees took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

The charging letter is the first step which is taken by the USDA USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The violation letter will contain allegations, but most of them will mention serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the violation letter, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to protest the decision. If you don’t, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we’ll file the legal papers and notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. We’ll collect necessary evidence, and our team will draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

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. This next phase is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers 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 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 buy electronic goods. 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 serious violation, then you may end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In many situations, owners of grocery stores don’t even know the violations are even happening. Often, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer to ensure 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 violations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. In the absence of a SNAP violation attorney, you cannot defend your store. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully does large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. The policy has to be in writing and the policy must be at the time the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must has to 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 will also look to see if the retail store owners benefited from the violations, or were aware of the violation. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any 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.