The judgment behind your capital should be earned.
Most of the advice marketed to private lenders comes from people who have never worked inside a credit shop. We have. Thirty-five years of it, including time inside three of the largest banks in the world. That experience, combined with access to institutional resources and complete independence, is what we put behind your capital.
What does full credit cycle experience add to a private loan?
Our credit experience spans residential mortgage, investor lending, commercial finance, private credit, and distressed assets. Thousands of loans underwritten, originated, managed through default, worked out, and in some cases liquidated. We have worked both ends of the business, origination and collections, and we have seen what makes a loan recover and what makes it a total loss.
Anyone can underwrite a loan in a strong market. The value of experienced credit judgment shows when the market turns, because the underwriting done on the way in is what determines what can be recovered on the way out.
What tools do we use that most private lenders cannot access?
We maintain access to commercial credit reporting with full tri-merge pull capability, loan origination systems for structural review, and commercial valuation resources beyond public comparable data. Most private lenders cannot pull a full three-bureau credit report on their own or run a loan through commercial-grade systems, which forces them to rely on borrower-supplied information. Borrower-supplied information is the single most common source of credit decision error in private lending. We also work in the lending market every day, so our read on current pricing, underwriting standards, and market conditions comes from live activity rather than archives.
Is The Mad Lender independent?
Yes, structurally. The Mad Lender is an advisory practice. We do not originate your loans, we do not broker your loans, and we do not earn fees from any party to your deals. We do not steer you to preferred vendors, title companies, or lenders. If you ever need origination, we will refer you to a third party and decline any fee. Our compensation comes from you, for credit work delivered to you, and nothing else.
Who runs the practice?
The practice is led by Doug Smith, a senior credit professional with 35 years of institutional lending experience across residential, investor, commercial, private credit, and distressed assets, including formal credit training and special assets work inside three of the largest banks in the world. He has underwritten or made thousands of loans through full credit cycles, and he wrote The Mad Lender’s Guide to Private Lending and Note Investing. He answers questions from lenders and note investors in public forums nearly every day.
The practice is intentionally small and client intake is selective. We do not run cohorts, bootcamps, or course funnels. We are not a course and not a coach. We are a consultant with the same credit background as the underwriters, credit officers, and workout specialists inside the banks your borrowers owe money to.
Doug speaking on an industry panel.