Credit report errors
Accounts that are not yours, wrong balances, wrong dates, and derogatory marks that have no business still being there.
New York · New Jersey · Federal court
Your credit report should tell your story.
When an error, a mixed file, a background check, or a debt collector rewrites it, Steketee Law Firm uses the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to hold the right parties to the statute.
Attorney advertising. The first conversation is free and does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What we look at
A wrong file is a legal problem.
We represent consumers in New York and New Jersey against credit reporting agencies, background-check companies, the businesses that furnish data, and debt collectors whose conduct is covered by federal law.
Background checks
A criminal record or employment flag that belongs to someone else can cost a job. The FCRA has rules for that kind of report.
Identity theft
Fraudulent accounts and inquiries opened in your name. We work to clear the file and pursue the parties who kept the error alive.
Mixed files
When a bureau merges your history with a stranger’s, the damage is concrete. The file has to be pulled apart.
Reported deceased
A false death notation can freeze credit, benefits, and ordinary life. It is a severe reporting failure, and we treat it that way.
Collection conduct
Harassment, false statements, and unfair collection practices by covered debt collectors under the FDCPA. Read the FDCPA practice.
FCRA · 15 U.S.C. § 1681
Accuracy, investigation, and the companies behind the report.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act is aimed at consumer reporting: what appears in a credit file, how a bureau investigates a dispute, and what furnishers must do when information they supplied is challenged. It also reaches certain background checks prepared for employment and other purposes.
FDCPA · 15 U.S.C. § 1692
How a debt collector is allowed to behave.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act restricts certain harassment, deception, and unfair practices by debt collectors the statute covers. A creditor calling about its own account is not always a “debt collector.” That distinction is one of the first things we sort out.
How a matter moves
The file. Then us.
A wrong report is where this starts. You get the free file, you ask us to look, and we set it up so we can help you fight back.
Send the Annual Credit Report file.
This is the file we need before a review. Go to AnnualCreditReport.com, request Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, and save the PDFs. Do not email a Social Security number.
Request a consultation.
Tell us what the report got wrong, or what the collector did. Your name and email on the form are enough.
We set up the review.
We read the file, put the letters and dates in order, and tell you whether we can help you fight it. Some files are infuriating and still not a case. We will say so.
How to get the free reports
- Open AnnualCreditReport.com. It is the official site for the free reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
- Request all three bureaus.
- Save each report as a PDF.
- Send the PDFs with your consultation. Do not put a Social Security number in an email.
The practice
One mission. One file.
A credit report or a collection letter can rewrite your life without asking. We read that file with you and help you fight back.
Business Development & Strategic Growth
Kyle James
Kyle James supports business development, strategic growth, and market positioning at Steketee Law Firm. He focuses on expanding consumer awareness, emerging opportunities, and the firm's presence in New York and New Jersey. He works from market intelligence, industry trends, and strategic partnerships.
The work covers credit reporting, credit accuracy, identity theft, and financial consumer protection. He looks at how regulations, litigation trends, bureau practices, and consumer needs shape education, advocacy, and access to legal resources. At the firm, that intelligence connects to growth: emerging FCRA issues, underserved consumers, competitive research, professional referral relationships, and visibility for people seeking help with possible credit reporting violations.
He helps the digital side as well, turning industry developments into educational content, consumer outreach, search visibility, and campaigns that connect people with legal resources. He works with the legal and operational teams so industry intelligence, consumer needs, and growth stay connected, in support of consumer education and responsible advocacy. Understand where the market is going, recognize what consumers are facing, and help the firm connect those people with legal resources.
Attorney
Randall Steketee
Randall approaches a hard moment with clear guidance and advocacy. He reviews the file, and the firm helps the person fight back. This practice is consumer credit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act: the bureaus, the furnishers, background checks, and collectors.
Years in estate planning, real estate, property management, and personal litigation are the background, not the lead. He helped build the real estate practice at Fischbein, Badillo, Wagner and Harding. At Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft he represented major lending institutions on large commercial financings across the United States.
He graduated at the top of his class from Skidmore College and New York Law School. He is admitted in New York, New Jersey, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and he belongs to the National Consumer Law Center, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, the New York City Bar, the New York State Bar, and the New Jersey Bar.
CTO
Bernis Berber
Bernis is the chief technology officer, and a builder. On this site he helps a person organize the file and execute: the reports, the letters, the dates, and the evidence, as one record. With the firm, he helps consumers in New York and New Jersey fight a wrong credit file. Right now he scales businesses and grows organizations.
Originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, he came to the United States as a refugee. He holds a bachelor of science in industrial engineering and engineering management from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A football scholarship put him on the field as a wide receiver, and he also ran indoor and outdoor track.
He spent about a decade at American Express, in Global Merchant Risk, Network Engineering and Optimization, and Financial Crimes, with program oversight of the Financial Intelligence Unit in Global Financial Crimes Compliance. The work was process optimization, fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, sanctions, and technology transformation. An optimization award recognized initiatives that cut millions in operating expense. He then worked in technology, consulting, and large-scale logistics, including final-mile programs for major national brands, and he builds AI tools, integrations, and workflows.
The work
We read the file against the statute.
A credit report, a background check, or a collection letter is a record someone else wrote about you. We look at whether that record is accurate, whether a furnisher or a bureau investigated a dispute, and whether a covered collector followed the rules.
That means tradelines that are not yours, balances and dates that do not match, mixed files, a false deceased notation, identity theft, and employment reports that recite the wrong case. It also means calls that do not stop, amounts nobody will explain, and threats the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act does not allow. The Fair Credit Reporting Act and the FDCPA are different laws. A single account can raise both. We say which, and we say when it is not a case.
The people doing that work trained for it. Randall graduated at the top of his class from Skidmore College and New York Law School and is admitted in New York, New Jersey, and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Bernis, the chief technology officer, builds the system that turns the papers into one record. A consultation is how we learn whether we can review the matter. Sending a note is not an engagement.
Fees
You should know the arrangement before anyone is hired.
In many FCRA and FDCPA cases, a consumer who prevails may recover attorney’s fees from the other side. Depending on the matter, the firm may offer a contingency or hybrid fee, which can mean no attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery.
That is not a promise that every case is free, and it is not a promise of a result. Court costs and case expenses are explained first. Any engagement is in writing. If the firm cannot help, we say so.
Offices
Two offices. One practice.
We meet clients from both sides of the Hudson. Call or write first so the right person is expecting you.
New York
New York City
254 W. 31st Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, and surrounding New York counties.
New Jersey
Ridgewood
27 N. Broad Street, 1st Floor
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Morris, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, and throughout New Jersey.
Questions
Before you send a file.
Straight answers. The details of your matter still have to be read against the papers.
Is this a credit-repair company?
No. This is the website of Steketee Law Firm. If we take the matter, we help you fight the file that is wrong.
What is the difference between the FCRA and the FDCPA?
The FCRA is about consumer reporting: credit files, furnishers, and many background checks. The FDCPA is about how covered debt collectors collect consumer debts. One file can raise both. They are not the same lawsuit.
Do I pay if there is no recovery?
Often, in a matter the firm accepts on contingency, you do not owe an attorney’s fee unless there is a recovery. The written engagement controls. Costs are discussed before you sign anything.
Will you take every case?
No. The firm accepts matters it can handle well. A consultation is a chance to find out whether yours is one of them.
Who reviews the file?
We do. A wrong file comes in. We read it, we organize it, and we help you fight back. A form or a chat is not an engagement.
What should I gather?
Credit reports from all three bureaus if you have them, dispute letters and responses, collection letters, a simple call log, any background-check or adverse-action notice, and identity-theft reports. Do not email full Social Security numbers or full account numbers.
Consultation
Tell us what the file says, and what it cost you.
A job. A mortgage. A collector at dinner. A report that lists you as deceased. Send a short account. We will tell you whether the firm can review it.
A short intake. Six questions. No Social Security number.
Tell us what happened, where you live, how to reach you, what papers you have, and what you want. We read whether we can look at it.