Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

St. Charles 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. This letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain records of transactions that happened at your store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the government will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program helps families with a certain amount of money each month. The SNAP program benefits are distributed via an EBT card. The funds on the EBT card are not for general usage, and they cannot 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 recipient lives. This program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The program and the benefits that come with it 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

Snap violations happen if and when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

The retail store took part intrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

Your store took money for more coupons than sale of actual food over the same period.

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

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

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

Sending the violation letter is the first step which is going to be taken by USDA to remove your EBT license. This comes with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter contain details about alleged violations, but most letters will mention violations, with an attachment of details. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. After you hire our law firm, our lawyers 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 SNAP violation letter, the USDA may still feel that your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that specifically states their decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our firm, we file the legal papers to notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft generate the necessary appeals briefs which contains all of the case law, evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to change the binding decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. The Judicial Appeal is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll have to do standard processes like 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 have to obey in order to accept EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant purchase electronic goods. If you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can include fines and penalties. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In many situations, store owners don’t know the violations are even occurring. In many situations, unethical employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. It’s helpful to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is sent to your grocery store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the allegations will permanently harm your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will deliver a verdict even if 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 a fighting change. Our lawyers will fight the decision 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 curb violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It has to be in writing at the store and the policy must be when the allegations were filed.

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

We highly recommend any store that gets a violation 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.