Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Sunnyvale Snap Violation Lawyers

If you’re a retailer who accepts EBT at your grocery store, then it’s possible have received a letter of warning from the USDA. The letter is probably a SNAP violation notice, which is claiming 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 retail store which the USDA is saying violates one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should definitely contact our law firm. 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 take EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with funds to buy food each month. The SNAP program benefits are given through an EBT card. The funds on the card are not for general use, and they can’t be used for fraudulent cash back transactions. 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 operated on a nationwide level by the federal government.

The SNAP government and the benefits that come with it are under handled 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 if and when a store violates any of the rules below.

The retail store is accused oftrafficking 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 incorrect info on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

The grocery store redeemed more coupons than food sales during the same period.

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

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

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

The charging letter is the initial step which is taken by the USDA USDA to remove your right to take EBT benefits. The letter can come with, or without, prior warnings and can happen at any time. The SNAP violation letter will have allegations in it, but most letters will lay out serious allegations, and have attached documents detailing the violations. You have only 10 days to respond. Once 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.

Once the USDA reviews your answer to the SNAP violation letter, the USDA might still feel that your store has violated the rules. If this happens, the USDA will issue a second letter which specifically states their legal verdict to suspend or disqualify the store based on the alleged violations. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. After you hire our lawyers, we file the legal papers to notify the government appeal the decision. Our lawyers collect necessary evidence, and our team will generate an appellate brief which contains all of the legal laws, legal evidence, etc. which is needed to fix the outcome.

If the USDA refuses to override the legal decision, in the Administrative Review, we will file a Judicial review at the local Federal District Court. This next phase is like a normal federal court case, where you’ll be able to do discovery, file motions, and have a trial. Our lawyers can handle these cases in all 50 states.

SNAP Violations

As a food store retailer, there are many laws you have to adhere to for EBT. In most cases, many grocery store owners don’t run into problems. However, USDA’s 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. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you should expect getting a SNAP violation letter. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a major violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores don’t even know SNAP violations are even occurring. Often, unethical employees who are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to discuss your case with a SNAP violation attorney in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a SNAP violation letter is delivered to your store, you have only ten days to respond to the claims. Your failure to respond to the violations will permanently harm your store. In addition, the USDA will deliver a verdict even though you don’t respond to the allegations. Without legal experience, you won’t be able to retain EBT benefits. Hiring a SNAP violation lawyer gives you the ability to fight for your rights. Our lawyers can discredit the decision 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 does huge fines to in order to curb future violations. The USDA will look to see if you have a store compliance policy in place. It must be in writing and in effect when the violations were filed.

The retailer must be able to prove the compliance policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. The USDA will also look to check if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or were aware of the violation. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store owner that receives a 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.