Received a SNAP Investigation Letter in New York City

If a letter arrived from the Human Resources Administration (HRA), the Bureau of Fraud Investigation (BFI), or the Revenue and Enforcement Administration — often with a return address at 375 Pearl Street, New York, NY — you are under investigation for SNAP fraud. The letter is not a notice. It is the start of a case the agency has been building for weeks or months before you ever saw it.

Before you do anything else: do not call the investigator listed on the letter. The interview is the moment the investigation gets stronger, not weaker. Call us instead at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected]. The consultation is free and confidential.

What the Letter Means

Before any letter is sent, BFI has typically already pulled:

Wage records from the New York State Department of Labor and the New Hire Directory
IRS data showing 1099 and W-2 income
Bank records subpoenaed from your financial institutions
EBT transaction history showing where you used your benefits
Residency information from utility records, tax filings, vehicle registrations, and sometimes social media
Household composition evidence from leases, mailing addresses, and tax returns

The letter is sent to give you a chance to "explain" — meaning to put your statements on the record alongside the documents they have already collected. Anything you say in the interview becomes evidence in three possible cases: an administrative overpayment claim, an Intentional Program Violation (IPV) hearing, and a criminal prosecution under Penal Law Article 158.

The Most Common Allegations

Unreported income. Earnings that were not disclosed at application or recertification.
Unreported household members. A spouse, partner, or adult child whose income would have reduced or eliminated benefits.
Residency fraud. Claiming New York residency while primarily living elsewhere, or collecting benefits in two states.
EBT trafficking. Exchanging benefits for cash or ineligible items.
Resource misrepresentation. Bank accounts, property, or assets that affect eligibility but were not disclosed.

Three Tracks Can Open at Once

Overpayment. The agency computes a dollar amount and demands repayment. Collection runs through the Revenue and Enforcement Administration — benefit reductions, tax refund intercepts, and wage garnishment.
Intentional Program Violation hearing. A finding of IPV disqualifies you from SNAP for one year (first), two years (second), or permanently (third).
Criminal referral. Where the alleged overpayment is large enough, HRA refers the case to the District Attorney. Welfare fraud is charged under PL §§ 158.05 through 158.25, with felony grades starting above $1,000.

Identify the Letter — Not Every Notice Means the Same Thing

The first task is to read the letter carefully and figure out which of several documents arrived. They look similar at a glance but have very different deadlines and consequences:

Notice to Appear for an Interview. A request to come in — usually to 375 Pearl Street or to a local Job Center fraud unit. Often paired with a list of documents to bring. Voluntary in form, but missed appointments are documented and used.
Demand for Documents. A list of records the agency wants produced by a date certain. Sometimes backed by a Social Services Law administrative subpoena, sometimes not. The difference matters and is not always obvious from the letter.
Notice of Overissuance / Recoupment Demand. A computed dollar amount the agency says was overpaid, with a payment schedule or recoupment plan and an appeal deadline. Usually appealable through a fair hearing under 18 NYCRR Part 358.
Notice of Intentional Program Violation Hearing. An ADH notice setting a hearing date under 7 C.F.R. § 273.16, with the months at issue, the dollar amount, the regulatory basis, and a Disqualification Consent Agreement attached. Receipt of this letter means the agency has decided to seek disqualification.
Disqualification Consent Agreement Offer. A waiver document. Signing it ends the case civilly with an IPV finding and the corresponding disqualification period — twelve months for a first IPV, twenty-four for a second, permanent for a third under 7 C.F.R. § 273.16(b).
Criminal Court Summons or Desk Appearance Ticket. A charge under Penal Law Article 158, sometimes with companion counts under Articles 155 and 175. The administrative case continues alongside.
Grand Jury Subpoena or Federal Target Letter. The case has moved past the agency. A federal target letter from a USDA-OIG or U.S. Attorney's Office matter is the single most urgent document in this list.

Why the Deadline on the Letter Is Not Always the Real Deadline

The response date on the letter is a deadline for the recipient. There are other deadlines, less visible but more consequential:

The ten-day window to request a fair hearing with aid-continuing under 18 NYCRR § 358-3.6, where benefits are being reduced or terminated.
The window to challenge the overissuance calculation before it hardens into a judgment.
The window in which the agency is still building the case and a counsel letter can shape what the file looks like at referral.
The criminal statute of limitations on the months in question — five years for misdemeanors and most felonies under CPL § 30.10, longer for some larcenies.

How an Interview Statement Gets Used Later

The single most damaging thing a recipient does is sit down with the investigator without preparation. The conversation is recorded or memorialized in a written voluntary statement. That statement then appears in three places:

As the agency's primary proof at the ADH, where the hearsay rules are relaxed and the statement comes in even without the investigator testifying live.
As the People's first piece of evidence if the case is referred to a District Attorney, used in the grand jury and at trial.
In any civil collection action by the Revenue and Enforcement Administration to prove intent and defeat discharge arguments.

You have the right to counsel during the interview. You have the right to decline the interview entirely. You have the right to limit document production to what the agency has lawfully demanded.

Do Not Destroy or Alter Records

It bears stating directly. Deleting bank records, changing leases after the fact, asking an employer to revise a W-2, removing social media posts, or hiding documents from the investigator transforms a recipient case into a falsifying-business-records case under Penal Law Article 175 and an obstruction case in federal court. Whatever the underlying facts, do not touch the documents. Keep them. Let counsel decide what is produced.

What to Bring — and What Not to Bring — to an Interview

Where an interview is going to happen, the rule is to bring exactly what was demanded and nothing else:

Photo identification and the appearance letter itself.
Only the specific documents that counsel has agreed to produce, organized and copied. Originals stay with you.
A written statement of representation if counsel will not be physically present.

Not appropriate to bring: a spouse, a relative, a friend, additional documents "just in case," social media printouts, photos, or anything the agency did not ask for. Everything you bring into the room is fair game for the file.

What Disqualification Actually Means for Your Household

Disqualification is personal — it runs against the household member who committed the IPV, not against the household. The remaining household members continue to receive a recalculated benefit based on a reduced household size, but the disqualified member's income and resources still count under 7 C.F.R. § 273.11(c). In practice this means a parent's disqualification often does not zero out the children's benefits, but the family's monthly allotment changes materially. The disqualified person is also barred from acting as the household's authorized representative.

How Recoupment Plans Work

An overissuance is collected on an installment basis. The cap depends on how the agency codes the overpayment. For active SNAP households, IPV-coded overissuances are collected at the greater of $20 per month or 20 percent of the monthly allotment, inadvertent-household-error overissuances at the greater of $10 or 10 percent, and agency-error overissuances at the greater of $10 or 10 percent under 7 C.F.R. § 273.18. For closed cases the agency uses the federal Treasury Offset Program, the state tax refund intercept under Tax Law § 171-d, and direct collection action. The coding of the overpayment — IPV, inadvertent household error, or agency error — is itself negotiable in many cases and often more valuable than the dollar number.

For the broader investigation playbook, see SNAP investigation attorney. For the charging structure and felony grades once a case is referred, see SNAP fraud lawyer. For retailer-side allegations and federal exposure, see SNAP fraud attorney. For Medicaid-related exposure, see Medicaid fraud attorney. For the broader criminal context, see criminal defense lawyer.

What to Do Right Now

Keep the letter. Note the date you received it, the deadline to respond, and the name of the investigator. Photograph the envelope too.
Do not call the investigator. Not to "clear it up," not to ask questions, not to reschedule.
Do not produce documents. Document production should be negotiated through counsel, not handed over in a panic.
Do not post about it. Social media is subpoenaed in these cases.
Call a lawyer before the response deadline. A short, professional letter from counsel often slows the investigation enough to evaluate the case.

If you have received a SNAP investigation letter, call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected]. We will read the letter with you and explain exactly what comes next.