Evaluate the lender's reputation and experience: Choose lenders with a proven track record who have been in business for a while and have reviews/testimonials you can talk to if you like3.

Obviously, based on my relationship with the company, I'm not unbiased, but most people here on BiggerPockets know that I value my reputation above all, and when I agreed to join FTF as an advisor a couple years ago, it was because I was very impressed not only with their business model and underwriting guidelines, but with the CEO (Matt Rodak) and the rest of the management team.I have no requirement to invest my own money on the FTF platform; I do that simply because I like the platform, like the deals that are being funded and find the returns to be nearly as good as the private lending I do, but without all the overhead. 

For those that say the insurance company's job is not to pay out --- then perhaps you should go with a more reputable insurance company...Hope this bit helps. 

Agreed, reputation is key! 

Remember, reputation matters.

They are a big group and people I spoke with did say they have a great reputation, but the northeast mentality of wanting things done yesterday does not work in every market.

You should be able to find a reputable company for less.  

Lastly, you can use the find a lender tool up top of BiggerPockets to find reputable lenders. 

His primary mortgage was sold to a private lender in the early 2000s and he claims he had to give an explanation each time as to why he financed with a private lender with such poor reputation every time his credit was pulled.

Figure has a reputation for being a fast HELOC provider.