27 days to reset my AppleID?!?!?

I have an Apple phone that I haven't used in a while and went to reset it to trade it in. Well, surprise surprise, I can't reset it because I don't remember my old AppleID password. I have the same email address as I used to setup the AppleID account, yet it says 27 DAYS to reset the account.

This is a joke. I don't understand why there is not a simpler method considering that I have access to the email I used to sign up since it's my primary email address with my first and last name in the @ field. I have copies of the ATT page showing my name and the EIN of the phone, but nooo... this combined with my email address, a picture of the credit card used for my Apple Pay, and several emails regarding the purchase are not enough to prove that I own the phone.

I get wanting a phone to be secure, but this is obscenely pathetic help and timeline to get access to MY DEVICE which CAN BE VERIFIED through several pieces of information already provided.