Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Seattle Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then you might have received a official notice from the USDA. This notice is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The government will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your store that the government claims violates 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 don’t respond, the government will terminate/suspend your stores 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 to consumers through an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card cannot legally be used for general usage, and they can’t be used for cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. This program is operated on a national level by the government.

The SNAP government and it’s benefits 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 violations happen when a grocery store violates any of the following rules.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

The grocery store took money for more coupons than actual food sales at the same time.

Your employees have taken SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violations letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all phases of a SNAP violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning and can appear at any time. The charging letter has a variety of allegations, but most letters will mention violations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. After 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 notice of violation, the USDA might still decide that a violation has occurred. If this happens, the USDA will 100% issue a second letter which specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the accusations previously mentioned. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you don’t, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our law firm, we file the necessary paperwork to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to change the outcome of the violations.

If the USDA refuses to overturn the decision, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal 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 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, SNAP recipients cant purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in fines, and penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you might end up with a temporary or permanent disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t know SNAP violations were 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 make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is sent to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond 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 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 appeal any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes large fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing at the store and in effect when the violations 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 will also look in order to see if the grocery store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any grocery store owner that receives a letter speak to with a SNAP violation attorney. Failure can result 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.