Removing PMI

On most conventional loans, you can ask your servicer to cancel private mortgage insurance once your balance reaches 80 percent of the home's original value, either on schedule or early because you paid extra. If you do not ask, the servicer generally must end it automatically when the balance is scheduled to reach 78 percent of original value, as long as you are current. Those rules come from the federal Homeowners Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 4902). Many investors also let you request removal based on a new appraisal, under their own policies.

The three federal dates

1. Request cancellation at 80 percent. You can request cancellation in writing on the date the principal balance is first scheduled to reach 80 percent of original value, or earlier if your actual payments get you there. You must be current, have a good payment history as the law defines it, and meet the servicer's requirements to show the value has not declined and there are no subordinate liens.
2. Automatic termination at 78 percent. The servicer must end PMI on the date the balance is scheduled to reach 78 percent of original value if you are current. If you are behind, it ends once you become current.
3. Final termination at the midpoint. If PMI has not ended by then, it ends the month after the midpoint of the loan's amortization period, if you are current. On a 30-year loan, that is after year 15.

"Original value" is generally the lower of the purchase price or the appraised value at origination for a purchase, not today's market value. The CFPB notes that loans classified as high risk can follow a different schedule (CFPB). Your PMI disclosure at closing shows the scheduled dates.

Removal based on current value

If your home has gained value or you made improvements, you can ask your servicer whether a current-value request is available. That is investor and servicer policy, not the federal statute. It usually involves an appraisal or valuation the servicer orders and you pay for, a seasoning period, and a lower loan-to-value threshold than the statutory dates. Ask for the requirements in writing before you pay for anything. See loan-to-value for how the ratio is figured.

What this does not cover

• FHA mortgage insurance. The Homeowners Protection Act covers private mortgage insurance. FHA annual MIP lasts either 11 years or the life of the loan, based on HUD's chart for the loan-to-value at origination and the term (Mortgagee Letter 2023-05). See FHA MIP.
• The VA funding fee and the USDA annual fee. These are separate program fees, not PMI.
• Lender-paid mortgage insurance. When the lender pays the premium, there is usually nothing for you to cancel; the cost is built into the loan pricing.

How to request cancellation

1. Find your PMI disclosure or annual notice and check the scheduled 80 percent date.
2. Check your current balance against the original value.
3. Call or write your servicer and ask for its PMI cancellation requirements.
4. Submit the written request, plus any valuation the servicer requires.
5. Keep paying PMI until the servicer confirms cancellation in writing.

Fictional example

Fictional example: a Fort Worth owner sees nearby sales and decides the house is now at 80 percent loan-to-value. The scheduled 80 percent date on the PMI disclosure is still years away because it is based on original value. The owner asks the servicer about a current-value request, learns the seasoning rule and the appraisal requirement, and orders the valuation through the servicer. Until the servicer confirms in writing, the PMI stays on the payment.

Common mistakes

• Using one number for both rules. Eighty percent is the request point. Seventy-eight percent is the automatic point.
• Applying these rules to an FHA loan.
• Stopping the PMI part of the payment without written confirmation.
• Ordering your own appraisal before asking the servicer what it accepts.

If PMI is the main reason you want out of an FHA loan, a refinance into a conventional loan is another path. That is a full new loan with its own costs, so compare it carefully. See how PMI works.

Next step

If you are trying to decide between waiting for PMI to drop and refinancing, I can lay out both paths with your numbers. Book a call, or start an application.

Related questions

• How does PMI work?
• FHA MIP
• Loan-to-value explained
• How the appraisal works

Sources

Links checked Oct 21, 2026.

• Homeowners Protection Act, 12 U.S.C. 4902, Termination of private mortgage insurance (current U.S. Code): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/12/4902
• CFPB Ask CFPB, When can I remove private mortgage insurance (PMI) from my loan? (retrieved Oct 21, 2026): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/when-can-i-remove-private-mortgage-insurance-pmi-from-my-loan-en-202/
• Fannie Mae Selling Guide, B7-1-01 Provision of Mortgage Insurance (Apr 2, 2025): https://selling-guide.fanniemae.com/sel/b7-1-01/provision-mortgage-insurance
• HUD Mortgagee Letter 2023-05, Reduction of FHA Annual MIP Rates (effective for case numbers endorsed on or after Mar 20, 2023): https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/OCHCO/documents/2023-05hsgml.pdf

About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.

Equal Housing Opportunity.

Last reviewed: Oct 2026

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