Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Spokane Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your retail store, then it’s possible have been the recipient of a a letter of warning from the USDA. The notice is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is alleging you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation letter, and it will have records of transactions which occurred at your retail store that the USDA claims is in violation of one or more genres of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation letter, you should speak to our our legal team. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

This program provides families with get food each month. These benefits are given through an EBT card. The benefits on the EBT card cannot be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. The EBT cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The SNAP program is operated on a nationwide level by the government.

The SNAP government and the benefits that come with it 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 when a grocery store is in violation of the following rules.

The grocery store was involved intrafficking SNAP benefits. Examples of this is fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

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

Your store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food at the same time.

The employees of the store took SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t allowed to use them.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Spodek Law Group has immense experience handling SNAP appeals 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 taken by the USDA USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. This comes with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most letters will detail violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, we 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 notice of violation, the USDA might still decide that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will issue a second letter that specifically states the governments legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the legal papers to notify them we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and our team will draft an appellate brief which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is critical to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like 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. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can include fines and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious SNAP violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t even know the violations were even occurring. Often, it’s dishonest employees who are misusing the SNAP program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case 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 grocery store, you have only 10 days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently crush your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even if you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you cannot defend your store. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers will discredit the findings of the USDA and fight any decision. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose chooses to impose large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It must be in writing and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The store owner 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 in order to see if the 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 that gets a 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.