N.D. Cent. Code § 13-12-15

A residential mortgage lender may not take any type of fee in advance before the funding of the loan, unless the residential mortgage lender is licensed under this chapter. A residential mortgage lender licensed under this chapter may accept an advance expense deposit which may not exceed the residential mortgage lender's good-faith estimate of the actual cost of any appraisal or credit reports performed by an independent appraiser or independent credit reporting agency and required by the originating lender for the evaluation of the potential borrower's loan application. Any expense deposit that exceeds the actual cost of any appraisal or credit report must be promptly refunded to the borrower or credited to the borrower's account at the time of the loan closing. A residential mortgage lender may also charge a fee in advance to lock an interest rate.