How to Get Rid of PMI Without Refinancing: 80%, 78%, Appraisal

You can remove private mortgage insurance without refinancing by asking your servicer to cancel it once your loan balance reaches 80 percent of the home’s original value, and if you do nothing, federal law forces automatic termination at 78 percent. Both paths are built into the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 and apply to borrower-paid PMI on conventional mortgages.¹ A third path, based on current market value rather than original value, opens up if your home has appreciated.

First, Confirm Your Loan Qualifies

Before you do anything else, check your closing paperwork to confirm your PMI is borrower-paid and your loan is conventional. The cancellation rights below do not apply to every mortgage with mortgage insurance on it.

Lender-paid PMI (LPMI), where your lender pays the premium and passes the cost to you as a higher interest rate, is not covered by the Homeowners Protection Act. It ends only when you refinance or pay off the loan.²
FHA loans follow HUD rules, not the Homeowners Protection Act. If your case number was assigned on or after June 3, 2013, the annual mortgage insurance premium stays for the life of the loan, and refinancing into a conventional loan is usually the only way to shed it.³
USDA loans carry an annual guarantee fee until the loan matures, is paid off, or is terminated through foreclosure or deed-in-lieu. There is no equity-based cancellation.⁴

The rest of this guide is for borrower-paid PMI on conventional loans.

Request Cancellation at 80 Percent

This is the fastest way to end PMI, and it’s the one you actually have to initiate. Once your principal balance reaches 80 percent of the home’s original value, you have the right to ask your servicer to cancel PMI.¹ Original value means the lesser of your purchase price or the appraised value at closing.⁵ Extra principal payments count toward getting you there sooner.

Do the Math First

Pull your latest mortgage statement, find your current principal balance, and divide it by the original value of the home. If the result is 0.80 or less, you can move forward. If it’s still above 0.80, you can check your amortization schedule to see when regular payments will put you there, or run the numbers on additional principal payments.

What You Need to Qualify

A good payment history. You cannot have made any payment 30 or more days late in the 12 months before your request, or any payment 60 or more days late in the 12-month period that started 24 months before your request.⁵
No subordinate liens the servicer determines could affect the equity position. Second mortgages and HELOCs can block cancellation.¹
Evidence the property has not lost value. The servicer may require an appraisal to confirm the current value hasn’t dropped below the original value.⁶

How to Send the Request

Write to your servicer at the address they designate for written correspondence, which is usually printed on your monthly statement or listed on their website. Send it by certified mail with return receipt so you have proof of delivery. Include your loan number, a clear statement that you are requesting PMI cancellation under the Homeowners Protection Act, and confirmation that you believe you meet the eligibility requirements.

Once the servicer has your request and any required evidence (such as a certification that no subordinate liens exist), it must stop collecting PMI premiums within 30 days. Any unearned premiums you already paid must be returned to you within 45 days of cancellation.¹

Automatic Termination at 78 Percent

If you never send a request, your servicer still has to end PMI on its own. Federal law requires automatic termination on the date your principal balance is first scheduled to reach 78 percent of the home’s original value, based solely on the amortization schedule set at origination.¹ That date is fixed at closing. Extra payments do not move it up, and changes in market value do not affect it.

You have to be current on payments when the termination date arrives. If you’re behind, the servicer doesn’t have to terminate PMI until the first day of the month after you become current.¹

There’s also a final backstop. Even if nothing else has triggered removal, PMI can never be required beyond the first day of the month following the midpoint of your loan’s amortization period, as long as you’re current.¹ On a 30-year mortgage, that’s 15 years in.

Cancellation Based on Current Market Value

If your home has appreciated significantly, you may be able to cancel PMI before your balance ever reaches 80 percent of the original value. This path draws on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac investor guidelines rather than the Homeowners Protection Act alone, so the requirements are stricter and the servicer has more control over the process.⁶

How Long You’ve Had the Loan Matters

For a one-unit primary residence or second home backed by Fannie Mae, the equity threshold depends on how long the loan has been open:

Less than 2 years: current-value cancellation is generally unavailable unless you’ve made substantial improvements, in which case the loan-to-value ratio must be 80 percent or less.⁷
2 to 5 years: LTV must be 75 percent or less of current value.⁷
More than 5 years: LTV must be 80 percent or less of current value.⁷

Freddie Mac uses a similar 75 percent and 80 percent framework at those same seasoning breakpoints. Ask your servicer which investor holds your loan and which guidelines apply.

Who Picks the Appraiser

The servicer chooses the valuation method, not you. For Fannie Mae loans, the servicer orders a property valuation through Fannie Mae’s servicing solutions system, which may or may not require a full interior and exterior appraisal depending on the situation.⁷ You cannot hire your own appraiser to satisfy this requirement. You will pay the fee, which for a standard single-family appraisal typically runs from a few hundred dollars to over $1,000, and the fee is not refundable if the value comes back too low.

Renovations Can Waive the Two-Year Wait

If your loan is less than two years old, Fannie Mae will waive the two-year seasoning requirement when the value increase comes from improvements you made after origination. The work has to be a substantial renovation that increases marketability and useful life, such as kitchen and bathroom renovations or added square footage — routine maintenance and repairs do not count.⁷ The resulting LTV still has to be 80 percent or less, and the servicer will want documentation of the work.

If Your Servicer Says No or Goes Silent

If you meet the requirements and the servicer denies your request or doesn’t answer, send a follow-up letter citing 12 U.S.C. § 4902 and referencing the certified-mail receipt from your original request. Ask for a written explanation of the denial.

If that doesn’t fix it, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which supervises mortgage servicers and handles PMI removal disputes.⁸ The CFPB forwards complaints to the servicer and generally requires a response. You can submit online at consumerfinance.gov or call the agency directly.

What Changes After PMI Is Gone

Your Escrow Account

If your PMI premium was paid through escrow, the amount your servicer needs to collect each month drops once PMI is off. Servicers run an escrow analysis at least once a year, and the next one after cancellation should show a surplus. If the surplus is $50 or more, the servicer must refund it to you within 30 days of the analysis.⁹ If your monthly payment doesn’t come down within a billing cycle or two, call and ask when the next escrow analysis is scheduled and whether one can be run sooner.

Deducting Premiums in 2026

Starting with tax year 2026, mortgage insurance premiums on acquisition debt are once again deductible as mortgage interest on your federal return. The deduction was made permanent under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act after being unavailable for tax years 2022 through 2025. If you cancel partway through 2026, you can deduct the premiums you paid during the months coverage was active, subject to the standard mortgage interest deduction limits. Ask a tax professional how this applies to your return.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 4902 – Termination of Private Mortgage Insurance
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC Ch. 49 – Homeowners Protection
3
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Single Family Mortgage Insurance Premiums
4
USDA Rural Development. Chapter 16 – Closing the Loan and Requesting the Guarantee
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 4901 – Definitions
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. When Can I Remove Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) From My Loan?
7
Fannie Mae. Termination of Conventional Mortgage Insurance
8
USAGov. Where to File a Complaint About a Mortgage Company
9
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation X – 1024.17 Escrow Accounts