ComplaintsforFamily Promise of Greater Savannah

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On January 17, 2022, I applied for rental assistance with Family Promise of Savannah, GA. As I was completing the application, I checked the option: I do not consent to allow my information to be shared via GA HMIS. I understand that this choice may negatively affect the quality of services the GA HMIS participating providers are able to provide. I have recently experienced identity theft and I initially called the office on February 7th and spoke with *** ****** I asked about the status of my application and was told that it has been denied. I asked her if my personal information is still in the system, and she avoided the question. I then asked her again and she evasively admitted that our personal (my personal information as well as my daughter's SSN on income tax return) is still in the system. I told her about the identity theft I have experienced as well as filing a police report and freezing my credit reports. She lied and said information is removed in ten to fifteen days for security reasons. How is that so when our information is still in the system when I called on February 7th? I sent an email to them on February the 15th to please remove our personal information because our application has been denied and the identity theft, I have received no response. So, I sent an email to executive director *** ******* ******* on February 17th to request personal information to be removed from their system. Again, I have not received a reply nor a call back. This is not ethical for a nonprofit company to ignore my emails/ call to remove our personal sensitive information. With so much identity theft that is happening, all I wanted is for them to honor my request and they failed to respond. It is very suspicious that no one respond to me which is appalling because how will they feel if they request personal information to be removed and get ignored? I am asking BBB to get involved and to ensure that our information is totally removed from their system. Thank you.

  Business response

  03/04/2022

  ********* *** ********

   

  Thanks for your email and the information provided on behalf of the Bush family and my apologies for the delayed response or any inconvenience this may have caused the family. 

   

  Family Promise of the Coastal Empire received an application for rental assistance from ** ******** **** on January 17, 2022 at 5:57pm. Based on the information presented the household was emailed on January 19, 2022 at 5:00pm stating the household ineligibility. In addition, our records reflect a phone conversation with *** **** regarding the denial. It was at the time that it was explained to her that her attached documents would purge from the online portal within 7 business days of completion.

   

  With regards to her personal information, FPCE has a paper copy of her original application in our possession along with hard copies of what she attached in the application form. Her original online application is stored in the portal only, not the attachments. There is no pertinent information stored in the online portal. We do not ask for full social security numbers on the application, only the last four digits.  Due to state and federal law, FPCE must retain all denied applications for up to 12 months. According to FPCE guidelines all denied applications and supporting documents are destroyed properly. All files, approved and denied applications,  are stored in a locked file cabinet at all times for confidentiality until the expiration time. Therefore the information she received regarding her application and information was accurate and truthful. However, we do acknowledge the information could have been misinterpreted.  

   

  ** ******* *******, did not receive any correspondence from *** **** regarding this matter, as I would have gladly responded via telephone or email. 

   

  Again, we apologize for any inconvenience and I can attest that there is no personal information stored in the portal for the **** household.

   

  Please let me know if there is any additional information you may need from me or my team

   

  All the best, 

   

  ******* ** ******** ***
  Family Promise of the Coastal Empire
  Executive Director
  912-790-9446 Office
  912-790-9496 Fax
  912-659-4565 Cellular
  www.familypromisece.org

  Customer response

  03/08/2022

   

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because: When I spoke to Ms. Moody on February 7th and asked her if our personal information was still in system, she avoided the question. I asked her again and she evasively admitted it.  So, from January 17th to February 7th, is that 7, 10, or 15 business days? We can agree that is not the case.

  Now. *** ******* says that she has paper copy of original application in their possession along with hard copies of what I've attached in the form. Then she says my online application is stored, not the attachments. I am confused by that statement. The next statement she says is that all denied applications are disposed of properly. How is that when she states that according to their policy, denied and approved applications are stored up to 12 months. My full SSN as well as my daughter's full SSN along with my banking information and other sensitive information is in my tax documents that was sent to Family Promise as proof of self-employment. I've already experienced identity theft and in fear that someone may steal my daughter's SSN.

  As far as *** ******* saying she did not receive any correspondence, I've submitted proof that I have sent an email. At this point I do not know who or what to believe. I do not know if she has concrete proof of when information was disposed of. All I can do is pray to the Creator and have taken precautionary steps to protect our SSN's and monitor my bank account. I am not accusing anyone at Family Promise, but I want to make sure that our information does not fall into the wrong hands.

  Regards,

  ******** ****

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