> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.myfundingmachine.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 0004 credit repair reason attachment

# Credit-repair reasons attach to cards + term loan only; file veto deleted

Status: accepted

Date: 2026-07-09

Phase 9 deletes the file-level credit-repair hard stop and attaches credit-repair as a **per-product reason**. This ADR locks which Funding Products receive that reason in Phase 9, and what is explicitly deferred.

## Decision

1. **Delete** `hasCreditRepairHardStop` (and any equivalent file-level short-circuit in `deriveWorkflow`) so a credit-repair-class outcome can never set `primaryPaths: ["decline"]` before other products are considered. This restores locked cross-track non-exclusivity (`docs/design/underwriting.md` §9 decision #5).
2. **Attach** credit-repair-class reasons to **`card_stacking` and `term_loan` Product Decisions only**. MCA, SBA, and BLOC do **not** inherit cards-side credit-repair reasons; they keep only their own evaluator reasons.
3. **Keep** existing `creditRepairFlag` / `credit_repair` (and related) coaching nextActions for Phase 9 — do not remove recommendation cards in this phase.
4. **Defer** (follow-up initiative, not Phase 9): eliminate credit-repair recommendations from the coaching layer; add an operator settings switch to inject a credit-repair referral link into decline email/SMS templates.
5. **Park a spike** (before or alongside 9c TL wiring): audit whether term-loan evaluator gates already imply credit-repair-class declines, or whether TL must explicitly share cards' repair reason codes so we do not under- or over-decline TL relative to operator reality ("if cards need repair, TL usually fails too").

## Context

Today `hasCreditRepairHardStop` in `deriveWorkflow.ts` can veto the whole file — contradicting the 2026-04-27 non-exclusivity lock. The roadmap's prior recommendation attached repair reasons to `card_stacking` + `sba` only and treated TL as "has its own gates." Product direction rejects sparing TL on that basis, and rejects attaching repair to SBA (SBA is questionnaire-gated per ADR-0003, not a repair-referral surface). Longer-term, credit-repair coaching should leave the engine UX entirely in favor of an opt-in referral link in decline templates — that is a messaging/settings project, not a prerequisite for deleting the file veto.

## Considered options

* **A — Phase 9: cards + TL reasons; keep coaching; defer settings referral (accepted).**
* **B — Also strip credit-repair nextActions in Phase 9** — rejected for this ADR; larger coaching delta, can ship after the veto is gone.
* **C — Full cutover including settings + decline-template link in Phase 9** — rejected; pulls settings/messaging into the underwriting roadmap.
* **D — Cards only; TL waits on spike** — rejected as the Phase 9 *attachment* rule; the spike still runs to validate *how* TL shares reason codes, but the locked target is cards + TL, not cards alone.
* **Roadmap default (cards + SBA)** — superseded; SBA is not a repair-reason product under ADR-0003.

## Consequences

* Phase 9c persona delta table must expect: credit-repair-class files can show `card_stacking` (+ often `term_loan`) declined with repair reasons while MCA/BLOC remain independently qualified when their evaluators pass.
* Do not re-introduce any router-level gate that mutates Product Decisions (VISION.md Locked Decision on FUND-1964 / routing gates still applies — reasons are projections/attachments per evaluator, not a second pass that overwrites unrelated products).
* `creditRepairFlag` persistence and coaching emission stay until the follow-up initiative; operators may still see repair recommendation cards in Phase 9.
* Glossary: CONTEXT.md → "Credit-repair reason attachment". System reference: `docs/design/underwriting.md` §7 / §10 gap #1.
* Follow-up to ticket separately: CR recommendation removal + settings referral link; TL gates spike findings may amend how TL reason codes are sourced but not which products are in the attachment set without a new ADR.