How to get rid of PMI
Private mortgage insurance protects your lender, not you, and on a conventional loan it doesn't have to last. Federal law sets the dates it can and must end. Here is how those rules work, and the three ways to reach them sooner.
The three dates the law sets
The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 covers PMI on conventional mortgages for a primary home closed on or after July 29, 1999. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's summary gives three milestones:
- 80%: you can ask. Once your principal balance is scheduled to fall to 80% of the original value, or reaches it sooner because you paid extra, you can request cancellation in writing.
- 78%: it ends on its own. Your servicer must end PMI automatically on the date your balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value, as long as you're current on payments.
- The midpoint: it ends regardless. If neither has happened, PMI must end the month after the halfway point of your loan's schedule: after year 15 of a 30-year loan, if you're current.
"Original value" means the lower of the purchase price and the appraised value when you bought. If you refinanced, it's the appraisal from the refinance. That's why rising home prices don't count toward the 80% and 78% rules; they only help through the separate appraisal route below.
Note the word scheduled in the 78% rule. Automatic termination follows your original amortization schedule, so extra payments don't make it happen sooner. To get credit for extra payments, you have to ask at 80%.
When those dates fall: a worked example
Say you bought a $400,000 home with 10% down: a $360,000 30-year fixed loan at 6.5%, with a principal and interest payment of $2,275.44 and the first payment in January 2027. The 80% line is $320,000 and the 78% line is $312,000.
| Milestone | Balance | Reached after | Month |
|---|---|---|---|
| You can ask to cancel | 80% of value | payment #95 (7 yrs 11 mo) | November 2034 |
| Ends automatically | 78% of value | payment #109 (9 yrs 1 mo) | January 2036 |
| Final termination | Loan midpoint | payment #180 (15 yrs) | December 2041 |
Waiting for the automatic date instead of asking at 80% costs 1 yr 2 mo of extra premiums. At an illustrative $150 a month, that's $2,100 for doing nothing. Your Closing Disclosure and monthly statement show your actual premium.
Calculated with the same engine as our calculators, rounding interest to the cent each month.
Get there sooner with extra payments
Every extra dollar of principal moves the 80% date closer. On the same loan, a steady extra payment each month from the start changes the picture like this:
| Extra each month | 80% reached | Sooner by | PMI avoided (at $150/mo) | Extra paid by then |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | May 2033 | 1 yr 6 mo | $2,700 | $7,700 |
| $200 | April 2032 | 2 yrs 7 mo | $4,650 | $12,800 |
| $300 | August 2031 | 3 yrs 3 mo | $5,850 | $16,800 |
| $500 | August 2030 | 4 yrs 3 mo | $7,650 | $22,000 |
The extra money isn't spent: it's equity, and it also saves interest at your mortgage rate. The PMI you stop paying is a bonus on top, which is why paying down a loan that carries PMI is often one of the best-returning places for spare cash until PMI is gone.
To find your own dates, and how much sooner your extra payments get you there, use the PMI removal calculator. To see how extra payments change your payoff date and total interest, use the extra payment calculator.
Use today's home value: a new appraisal
The 80% and 78% rules ignore appreciation, but Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own most conventional loans, let borrowers cancel based on the home's current value. Under Fannie Mae's servicing rules for a one-unit primary home or second home:
- After 2 to 5 years, your balance must be 75% or less of the current value.
- After more than 5 years, 80% or less of the current value.
- No payment 30 or more days late in the last 12 months, and none 60 or more days late in the last 24.
- If you made improvements that added value, such as a kitchen or an addition, the two-year wait can be waived. Ordinary repairs don't count.
In the example, after two years you'd owe about $351,683, so the home would need to appraise at $468,911 or more. After five years you'd owe about $337,000, so $421,250 would do, only 5.3% above the purchase price. That would end PMI 2 yrs 11 mo earlier than the 80% date, worth about $5,250 at $150 a month.
Ask your servicer before you order anything. Most require an appraisal or broker price opinion they arrange, typically at your cost, and a failed appraisal is money lost. Check recent sales of similar homes nearby first. You can find out who owns your loan with Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's online loan lookup tools.
Refinance, if the numbers already work
A refinance is a new loan with a new appraisal. If your home has gained enough value that the new loan is 80% or less of it, the new loan won't need PMI. This rarely makes sense for PMI alone: closing costs typically run in the thousands, and Freddie Mac estimates refinancing at 3% to 6% of the loan. It can make sense when rates have also fallen. Compare the closing costs with the premiums you'd save before you apply.
FHA, VA and lender-paid insurance work differently
- FHA loans carry a mortgage insurance premium (MIP), not PMI, and the Homeowners Protection Act doesn't apply. For FHA case numbers assigned on or after June 3, 2013, HUD's Mortgagee Letter 2013-04 keeps the annual premium for 11 years if your original loan-to-value was 90% or less (10% or more down), and for the life of the loan otherwise. The usual way out early is refinancing into a conventional loan once you have 20% equity. Our guide to removing FHA mortgage insurance works through an example.
- VA loans don't charge monthly mortgage insurance. They have a one-time funding fee instead, so there's nothing to cancel.
- Lender-paid mortgage insurance is built into your interest rate rather than billed separately, so there's no premium to cancel. Only a refinance removes it.
How to ask: a short request letter
Send it by the method your servicer names (many accept requests through their website) and keep a copy.
Leave out anything that isn't true: if you have a home equity loan or line of credit, say so, because a second lien can block cancellation.
After it's cancelled, check two things
- Your monthly payment. The PMI line should disappear from your escrow and your total payment should fall. If it doesn't within a billing cycle or two, call.
- Any refund. The Homeowners Protection Act requires servicers to return unearned premiums within 45 days of cancellation or termination. If you paid upfront or were billed ahead, look for it.
Related tools
- PMI removal calculator: your 80% and 78% dates, and how extra payments move them.
- Extra payment calculator: see what monthly, yearly or lump-sum extras do to your payoff date.
- Should you pay off your mortgage early? What to do once PMI is gone.
For education only; not legal or financial advice. Rules depend on your loan type, who owns it and when it closed, and your servicer's figures are final. The PMI premium in the examples is an assumption; yours is on your Closing Disclosure. Sources checked September 23, 2026.