Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

St. Peters Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your grocery store, then may have received a official warning from the USDA. This letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your grocery store which the USDA claims violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you must contact our legal team. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you choose to ignore, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program provides families with get food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given with an EBT card. The funds on this card cannot legally be used 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 the card is issued in the state where the recipient lives. This program is run on a national 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’s a SNAP Violation

SNAP legal violations happen when a retail store violates any of the following rules.

The store is accused ofthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or stealing the benefits.

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

The store submitted false info on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

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

The employees of the store have taken 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 experience handling SNAP violations letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP violation process in all phases of a SNAP action.

Sending the letter is the initial step which is going to be taken by USDA to take away your EBT license. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings can come at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will detail serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once 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 a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will 100% issue a second letter that outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to appeal the decision. If you choose not to, then you’ll be unable to protest the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, our team the appeal and notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is critical to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to override the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal 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 grocery store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many retail store owners have no problems adhering to them. However, SNAP can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limitations. For example, people getting SNAP benefits cant get electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If it’s believed you did a major violation, then you might end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t even know SNAP violations are even happening. Often, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP program. It’s helpful to speak with a SNAP violation attorney to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the violations. Failure to respond will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though 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 the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers will discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any penalties. The financial penalties imposed can be huge – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose imposes huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. It has to be in writing and in effect at the time the allegations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA typically also looks 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 violation 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.