San Jose SNAP Violation Attorneys.
FNS retailer cases are federal - the same charge letters, deadlines, and appeal rights apply in every state. Here is how the process works, and where counsel changes the outcome.
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When Shonda Rhimes built Inventing Anna, the defense at its center was Todd Spodek’s - argued for the so-called fake heiress in a Manhattan courtroom long before Arian Moayed of Succession played him on screen. What 320 million hours of viewers watched is the method every client of this firm gets - including the store owner with a charge letter on the counter.
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Many retailers who accept EBT at their grocery stores are vulnerable when it comes to receiving a SNAP violation notice from the federal government. These come in the form of several page documents from the USDA informing you of certain transactions that have occurred at your grocery store recently that have reportedly violated one or more of the general SNAP rules.
These rules can include any of the following:
• Your store has been suspected of fraudulently accepting SNAP benefits on the part of your customers
• Your store has been found to have accepted SNAP benefits in exchange for items these benefits are not intended for, including alcohol or tobacco as well as other products
• Your store has allowed customers to redeem more EBT stamps than actually needed for their food items at time of purchase
• Your store has allowed customers to redeem SNAP benefits who are not supposed to be eligible to redeem these benefits
• The documents submitted by your store on its EBT application is believed to be falsified either partially or entirely
Responding to one of these notices from the USDA promptly is crucial if you have any hope of fighting it. Your store is only given ten days from the day you receive this notice to take any type of action against it. The ultimate goal of the USDA contacting you by issuing this notice is to revoke your store’s ability to accept EBT benefits, which in turn can directly impact the number of customers you are able to appeal to in your area.
The best choice for your business is to contact a lawyer who can take over all of the communication between the USDA in regards to your store’s response to their notice. Once this response has been filed with the USDA, they may very well still determine that your store has been in violation of the SNAP rules and policies. If this happens, it will be on the part of your lawyer to, again, reply within ten days with an official notice stating that you plan to appeal the USDA’s verdict. Your lawyer will compile any appropriate evidence and will put together what is called an appellate brief that will be used to build your case against the USDA’s decision.
In certain cases, the USDA may stand firm enough that this can lead to your case being taken to the local Federal Court where it will be treated just like a normal court case, resulting in a trial and everything. This is just another reason why it can be so important to contact a lawyer immediately when faced with a SNAP violation notice from the USDA.
As stated before, responding promptly to one of these SNAP violation notices is crucial if your store wants to stand a fighting chance of overcoming the ruling made by the USDA in regards to your SNAP policy. Hefty fines are in place by the USDA in order to try to curb any violations from happening. One practice they usually stand behind is ensuring that a storeowner has a policy for accepting EBT cards as a form of payment in place in their store or business. This compliance policy must be in effect and posted at the time the USDA’s allegations were filed. If they find that it was not and that it were, say, drafted after the violations occurred, the USDA’s case is that much stronger against you and your store.
Losing the ability to accept EBT cards can be detrimental to your business. The SNAP program provides families with money to be used on groceries and food each month. They are provided with a card that is loaded with a certain amount of money that is predetermined based on their individual eligibility. Many families rely on this as their main form of payment when it comes to their general grocery shopping, and therefore your store’s ability to accept it is integral to your success in certain markets.
EBT cards replaced the traditional food stamps in the 1990s and the program is now operated on a federal level with each card being issued in the recipient’s registered state. The money placed on the user’s card is intended only for grocery purchases, and is never meant to be used for cash back purposes, which is often one of the ways a violation may fall upon your store.
Facing a SNAP charge letter or disqualification? Start with our full guide: USDA SNAP Violation Lawyers for Retail Stores, or call 212-300-5196 for an attorney, 24/7.
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Spodek Law Group has defended people and businesses against the federal government since 1976. SNAP retailer matters are handled the way the firm handles every federal case: the evidence gets read before anything is filed, deadlines get calendared on day one, and clients deal with counsel - not a call center.
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212 300 5196