Nationwide SNAP Violation Lawyers

Westfield Snap Violation Lawyers

If you accept EBT at your retail store, then may have received a letter of warning from the USDA. The letter is most likely a SNAP violation notice, which is stating you have violated the SNAP program. The government will attach a number of pages to the SNAP violation letter, and it will contain records of transactions which occurred at your store which the USDA claims is in violation of one or more groups of violations.

The first thing after you get a SNAP violation notice, you should speak to our our law firm. Remember, you have only ten days to respond to the letter. If you don’t respond, the USDA will suspend your grocery store’s ability to accept EBT.

About The SNAP Program

The SNAP program helps families with money each month. These benefits are distributed to consumers via an EBT card. The funds on the EBT card aren’t for general use, and they cannot be used for fraudulent cash back services. The cards took over for food stamps in the 1990’s and are issued by each state individually where the recipient lives. The SNAP program is run on a nationwide level by the federal government.

This program 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 does it mean to have a SNAP violation

SNAP legal violations happen if and when a store is in violation of the following rules.

The store is accused oftrafficking SNAP benefits. This can mean fraudulently accepting benefits, or theft of the benefits.

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

Your store submitted false information on your grocery stores application to accept EBT benefits.

Your grocery store redeemed more coupons than food sales over the same period.

The employees of the store have taken SNAP benefits from someone who shouldn’t be allowed to use the benefits.

How to defend your store against a SNAP violation

Our law firm has experience managing SNAP appeals letters. Our team of attorneys can handle your SNAP Violation appeal in all 3 phases of a SNAP Violation action.

Sending the violation letter is the initial step taken by the USDA to take away your right to take EBT benefits. This letter may come with, or without, prior warnings and can appear at any time. The SNAP violation letter has a variety of allegations, but most of them will mention serious allegations, 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 your store has violated the rules. If that happens, they’ll will definitely send a second letter which specifically states the agencies decision to suspend or disqualify the retail store based on the allegations set forth. You have 10 days to appeal this. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck with the USDA decision. Once you hire our law firm, we’ll file the necessary paperwork to notify the USDA appeal the decision. We’ll gather necessary evidence, and we will draft draft an appellate brief containing all of the case law, legal evidence, etc. which is necessary to fix the outcome.

In the event the USDA refuses to overturn the violation claim, in the Administrative Review, we’ll file a Judicial review at the local Federal Court. This process is like a normal 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 which you have to adhere to for EBT. In most normal situations, many grocery store owners have no issues adhering to them. However, the SNAP program can be tricky. SNAP handles the Electronic Benefits Transfer Card, and has limits on how the funds can be used. 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. Penalties of violating SNAP can result in severe fines. If you conduct a major SNAP violation, then you may end up with either a permanent or temporary disqualification. In most cases, store owners don’t know the violations were even happening. Often, dishonest employees are misusing the SNAP EBT program. If you’re accused of a SNAP violation to speak with a SNAP violation appeals lawyer in order to make sure you don’t have your benefits revoked.

When a charge letter is delivered to your store, you have only 10 days to respond to the violations. Your failure to respond to the allegations will permanently crush 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 the ability to fight for your rights. Our SNAP appeals lawyers can 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 does large fines to curb 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 grocery store also be able to prove the above mentioned policy was in place before the charge, and wasn’t drafted after the violation was made. The USDA will also look in order to see if the retail store owners benefited in any way from the fraud, or if the business owners were aware of the fraud. If the management was involved it can lead to disqualification.

It’s highly recommended any store owner that receives a allegation 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.