Reed Allmand

Consumer bankruptcy is the only area of law that I practice. It is my experience that the best way to serve my clients is to devote all my time to one area of law.

I have selected this area to specialize in because it dramatically impacts peoples lives in a real way. It is a very rewarding experience to meet with a client in crisis who is facing the loss of their property, experiencing loss of sleep and loss of good will with friends and family members, and having the opportunity to improve their situation.

My number one goal is to assure that clients who visit with me benefits from my services and walks out of my office a new person with a fresh start. It is my experience that anyone is one job loss or one unexpected emergency away from the need for a bankruptcy attorney.

All of my clients are good people that have been the victim of bad circumstance. As a Dallas bankruptcy attorney, my goal is to help good people get a fresh start on their finances through Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection.

Our bankruptcy attorneys help consumers resolve various types of debt such as debt from medical bills, student loan debt, debt from credit card bills as well as IRS tax debt. We can also help resolve many of the most common debt-related issues such as stop foreclosure of your home, stop car repossession, stop wage garnishments and stop harassing collection calls from creditors.

Texas Wesleyan University School of Law - Texas Wesleyan University

J.D. (2000) | Law

Honors: Graduated in the top 20% of class

Abilene Christian University

B.B.A. (1996) | Accounting & Finance

Honors: cum laude

Owner / Attorney

Allmand Law Firm, PLLC

2011 - Current

Partner/Lead Attorney/Owner

Allmand & Lee

2001 - 2011

Partner/Lead Attorney/Owner

Higgins & Allmand, P.C.

2001 - 2005

The Truth About Bankruptcy

January 1, 2013

Paralegals working in Bankruptcy Law

November 1, 2009

Everest College

Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy

American Board of Certification

2014

Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy

Texas Board of Legal Specialization

2005

A+

Better Business Bureau

2020

Since 2009

Pro Bono Attorney

Dallas Bar Association - Volunteer Attorney Program

2014

I was honored to receive an award for representing 60 low income clients file bankruptcy in 2014 with no out of pocket expense for those clients. It is very rewarding to be in a profession that gives me the opportunity to make a difference in some many lives, especially to those clients that cannot afford to pay for legal services.

American Consumer Bankruptcy College

Member

2007 - Current

Better Business Bureau

Accredited Buisness

2005 - Current

American Bar Association

Member

2001 - Current

American National Bankruptcy Institute

Member

2001 - Current

Dallas County Bar Association

Member

2001 - Current

Texas

Since 2000

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Q. If I owe Pell grant money back to my college and I file for bankruptcy will it be discharged?

August 26, 2021

A: If you have a student loant hat you received, you're going to be required to pay the student loan back. There is the possibility in some rare circumstances to be eligible to discharge a student loan through a bankruptcy proceeding, however that recovery requires an adversary proceeding, and the burden of proof is quite heavy on the actual student or bankruptcy client to prove the elements required to do that. The test that governs discharge ability for bankruptcy debtors to discharge a student loans, is the Bruner test, which has three prongs that you're required to prove.You have to prove that you've made a good faith effort to try to repay the debt. You also have to prove that you have a some type of hardship or impairment that's preventing you from being able to repay the student loans and that the impairment is going to continue indefinitely. The way the courts have interpreted this is that it's very difficult to meet those metrics unless you're actually fully determined to be disabled.

And if you do meet the disability requirements under Social Security, you're eligible to submit a form directly to the Department of Education to have the student loans discharged without even having to file bankruptcy case!

There are some instances where it is easier to discharge private student loans. There's varying tests for that as well. For example, if the university that you were enrolled in loses their accreditation, and they can no longer provide the kind of degree you want, there's a provision where you can potentially discharge that debt. Also, you're only responsible for the portion of the loan that covers your tuition and living expense. If they provide you more money than it costs to cover the cost of education, the portion in excess of the education can be discharged in some circumstances.

In your case, grants do not have to be repaid, only loans do. ... Read More

Q. What happens if you don’t turn in your tax return and/or refund on a chapter 13 bankruptcy?

August 20, 2021

A: Under the bankruptcy code, there is a list of responsibilities and duties of a bankruptcy client or bankruptcy debtor. One of those is that the debtor has to file their last four years worth of tax returns, and they have to provide the most recently filed tax return to the trustee, as the date of filing. After the case is filed, if they receive a tax return, the tax return may be considered income. Trustee's in various jurisdictions have different policies on how that should be held. In the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, the client is required to provide a copy of the tax return to the trustees office. Any tax refund that exceeds $2,000, the portion that exceeds the $2,000, the debtor is required to turn that over to the trustee. If the debtor disputes that they need those funds for another reasonable purpose they can petition the trustee and file a motion and potentially have a hearing to determine if that's a valid use of the funds.

Because of this, you need to contact your specific attorney as soon as possible. ... Read More