Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Temecula Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then you might have received a notice from the USDA. This letter is probably a SNAP violation letter, which is claiming you have violated the SNAP program. The USDA will include proof to the SNAP violation notice, which will have transactions that occurred at your retail store which the government claims is in violation of one or more categories of violations.

After you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our law firm. It’s critical you understand, you only have 10 days to respond. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your stores ability to take EBT.

About The Program

The SNAP program provides families with money each month. These benefits are distributed with an EBT card. The funds on the EBT card aren’t for general usage, and they can’t be used for 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 national level by the government.

This government and the benefits that come with it 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 violations happen if and when a store is in violation of the rules below.

The grocery store was involved inthe trafficking of SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting taking the benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

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

Your grocery store redeemed more EBT food stamps than actual food sales at the same time.

The employees of the store accepted SNAP benefits from someone who isn’t eligible to use the benefits.

How we can help defend you against a SNAP violation notice

Spodek Law Group has experience managing SNAP violation letters. Our law firm can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP action.

Sending the letter is the first step taken by the USDA to remove your EBT license. This letter may come with no warning can come at any time. The SNAP violation letter will contain allegations, but most letters will mention serious allegations, have evidence attached proving the violations. Your response to the SNAP violation letter is due within 10 days. Once you hire Spodek Law Group, 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.

After reviewing the store’s answer to the violation letter, the USDA might still feel that a violation has occurred. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter that outlines the governments decision to suspend or disqualify the grocery store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you choose not to, then you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our lawyers, we’ll file the appeal to notify the government we are going to appeal their decision. Our lawyers gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft the necessary appeals briefs containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to overturn the decision.

If the USDA refuses to change the decision, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This next phase is like a normal court 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 food store retailer, there are many laws which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, 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 purchase electronic goods. As a retailer, if you violate the laws, you’ll probably get a SNAP violation letter. Snap violation penalties can result in severe and business crushing penalties. If you conduct a serious violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, owners of grocery stores didn’t even know the violations are even happening. Often, it’s dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to consult with a SNAP violation attorney in order to ensure sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is presented to your retail store, you only have 10 days to respond to the allegations. Failure to respond will permanently crush your store. If you don’t respond the USDA will generate a verdict even if you don’t 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 lawyers can fight the decision of the USDA and appeal any decision. The penalties imposed can expensive – to the tune of ten’s of thousands of dollars. The USDA on purpose does huge fines to curb violations. The USDA look to see if you have a store compliance policy. The policy has to be in writing at the store and in effect at the time the violations were filed.

The retailer also has to be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in existence before the allegations, and was not drafted after the violation letter. 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. Any involvement of the management can lead to disqualification.

We highly recommend any store that gets 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.