Business Definition for: good faith
good faith
-
unsecured loan
made on the basis of the borrower's reputation in the community, called a character loan.
- in
bad debt
collection, an agreement by the lender to modify efforts to recover the amount owed if the borrower makes certain payments or delivers collateral.
- legal requirement that a lender extend credit in the belief that the borrower will repay the debt according to the terms of the loan agreement.
- a lender's reasonable estimate of mortgage closing costs, which must be listed in a
closing statement
, as required by banking regulation.
- token sum of money given to indicate interest in fulfillment of a contract, called good faith money. In a real estate transaction, it is known as
earnest money
.
good faith
total absence of intention to seek unfair advantage or to defraud another party; honest intention to fulfill one's obligations; observance of reasonable standards of fair dealing.
good faith
a concept of honesty.
Example: Abel pays $1,000 to Baker as a good faith
deposit
on land Baker offers for sale. Baker doesn't own the land and doesn't plan to buy it, so his acceptance of the deposit was not in good faith.
Copyright c 2006, 2000, 1997, 1993, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Reprinted by arrangement with Publisher.
Copyright © 2007, 2000, 1997, 1987, by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Reprinted by arrangement with Publisher.
Copyright © 2004, 2000, 1997, 1993, 1987, 1984 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Reprinted by arrangement with Publisher.