Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Stillwater Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then you might have received a letter of warning from the USDA. This notification is most likely a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will contain records of transactions which happened at your store that the government is saying is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation letter, you should definitely contact our legal team. 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

The SNAP program provides families with funds to buy food each month. These benefits are given via an EBT card. The SNAP benefits on the EBT card cannot be used for general usage, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took the place of food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued in the state which the SNAP participant lives. This program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

This government and it’s parameters are governed by the US 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 occur when a grocery store is in violation of the rules below.

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

Your retail store took SNAP benefits 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.

The store took money for more EBT food stamps than sale of actual food during the same period.

The employees of the store accepted SNAP benefits from an unauthorized person who isn’t allowed to use the benefits.

Defending against a SNAP Violation Letter

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

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your EBT license. This comes with no warning and can appear at any time. The violation letter will have allegations in it, but most of them will lay out violations, with an attachment of details. You have only 10 days to respond. After you hire our law firm, 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the notice of violation, the USDA may still decide that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will issue another letter which specifically states the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. Like before, you have 10 days to protest this verdict. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the necessary paperwork 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 which contains all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to override the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, our lawyers will file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal case, where you’ll be able to do 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 you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, SNAP 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 get electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll get a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in fines, and penalties. If it’s believed you did a serious 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, it’s dishonest 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 presented to your store, you only have ten days to respond to the claims by the USDA. Failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will make a verdict even though you choose not to respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Retaining a SNAP violation lawyer gives you a fighting change. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can discredit the findings of the USDA and appeal any decision. The fines imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA purposefully chooses to impose large fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will typically look to see if you have a compliance policy in place. It must be in writing and in effect when the allegations were filed.

The grocery store must be able to prove the above mentioned 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 if the owners were aware of the fraud. If the managers were involved, it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store that gets a violation letter consult 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.