Q:

Is it suspicious that I need to pay a good faith fund on a mortgage?

I applied to get a home loan over the phone with a major US bank for a house I am buying. The agent has been in communication with me over E-mail, but I also have an on-line account they credit for me where I can check the mortgage details and do some steps for the application.
Recently, they asked me to pay a "good faith fund" which will later go towards the closing costs of the mortgage, and is needed before the application can continue. I can't find anything on-line using this term "good faith fund", and am suspicious that they want my credit card details over the phone and the bank's Web site doesn't have this mentioned or have an on-line way to pay this.
Is that a normal thing to pay when applying for a mortgage?

A:

A definition of good faith money is given here: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/goodfaithmoney.asp
I agree it sounds unusual, but I would expect that if you explained your worries about this to them then their reaction would be very telling. If they reassure you calmly and provide additional information that would be a good sign, and if they try to hurry you up or make some kind of time pressure then that is a very worrying sign.

