How Hard Money Lending Can Be A Reliable Source Of Funding What’s a hard money lender? And why is it that most of them prefer to go by a more-friendly sounding name – private lender? It’s most probably because when people hear the phrase hard money lender, they mechanically think a person is talking about a loan shark. What needs to be understood, though, is that hard money lending isn’t bad. In fact, it can be a pretty dependable source of funding for people who’re looking to make fix and flip investments.