Combat upfront payments

Every lender or a consultant representing lenders claims ---- "NO UPFRONT FEE. WE CAN GET YOUR PROJECT FUNDED IN A FORTNIGHT" ----- But when they are sent a project, nearly all of them come up with so many excuses which seek payment from the borrowers. It could be that the lender has agreed to finance this project and now the borrower need to pay the due diligence fee of thousands of dollars. After making the payment, the due diligence fails on one pretext or the other thus registering a huge loss to the project owner. Is there a way to overcome this advance payment issue?