DENVER — The first class-action lawsuit has been filed against Equifax in Colorado by Hannon Law over the company’s huge security breach.

Denise Farmer Watts said Equifax and other major companies have to be held accountable for putting consumers at risk.

“I’m appalled. Equifax is a gatekeeper, it holds the key to employment, mortgages, car loans and right now it’s big, bad and it’s ugly,” she said.

Watts suspected she had been a victim of the Equifax security breach.

“They’re ready for me to sign for a loan and I’m thinking what loan so that there alarmed me and then I saw your report and I got involved,” she said.

Watts works in finance with a criminal justice background and is one of thousands of Colorado consumers joining the class-action lawsuit.

“How do you regain your trust back with these companies I feel victimized,” she said.

The Colorado lawsuit alleges serious harm to victims in violation of federal laws and the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, joining 27 others filed nationwide likely to be combined by a panel of federal judges.

“It’s a slap in the face and I think it’s pretty much criminal,” Watts said. “I think it’s not honesty and you’re supposed to believe in a company and especially as big as Equifax is.”

Two key congressional committees are also demanding answers from Equifax about why the company delayed reporting the breach, how it’s identifying 143 million consumers affected and what’s being done to protect them

“I’ve got to continue to be on alert at this point if they’re not doing it and doing it properly then who will besides us the consumers,” Watts said.