When can I stop paying PMI?
Two different thresholds, two different rules, and one of them you have to ask for.
Private by design. Your numbers stay on this device.
Educational estimates only. Not financial, tax, or lending advice.
At what point does private mortgage insurance come off?
On a conventional loan, two thresholds apply under the US Homeowners Protection Act. You can request cancellation once the balance reaches 80% of the original value, and the servicer must terminate it automatically at 78%. FHA mortgage insurance follows different rules and often lasts the life of the loan.
What are the two PMI thresholds?
80% and 78% of the original value — and only one of them happens without you doing anything.
On a conventional loan, the US Homeowners Protection Act sets both. At 80%, you may request that private mortgage insurance be cancelled. At 78%, the servicer must terminate it automatically.
Both are measured against the original value — broadly, the lesser of the purchase price and the appraised value when you bought — not against what the house is worth today. That distinction is what surprises people whose homes have appreciated.
| Request at 80% | Automatic at 78% | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | You | The servicer |
| When | Once the balance reaches 80% of original value | When the balance is scheduled to reach 78% |
| Form | A written request | No action needed |
| Conditions | Good payment history; servicer may require a current appraisal | Payments must be current |
| Extra principal counts | Yes — it reaches the threshold sooner | Based on the original schedule |
Applies to conventional loans covered by the Homeowners Protection Act. Your servicer's own requirements sit on top of it — ask them in writing.
Can I reach the threshold faster?
Yes. Paying the balance down early is the one lever entirely under your control.
Automatic termination follows the original amortization schedule, so it arrives when it arrives. Extra principal payments get you to the 80% request point sooner, and on a loan that started near the maximum loan-to-value that can be a difference of years.
A separate route exists where the property has appreciated. Some servicers will cancel on the basis of a new appraisal showing current value, but that is a servicer or investor policy rather than an entitlement under the Act, and you pay for the appraisal. Ask what their rule is before ordering one.
Does this apply to an FHA loan?
No. FHA mortgage insurance is a different regime with different rules.
FHA loans carry a mortgage insurance premium rather than private mortgage insurance, and the 80/78 thresholds do not govern it. On many FHA loans the premium runs for the life of the loan regardless of how much equity you build, so the usual way out is refinancing into a conventional loan once the equity supports it.
Because the rules depend on when the loan was written and how much you put down, this is a question for your servicer or the FHA rules that applied to your specific loan, not one to answer from a general table.
What is dropping PMI actually worth?
It is a payment cut with no offsetting cost — the rarest kind.
Unlike a refinance, nothing is traded away. The rate is unchanged, the term is unchanged, no fees are paid, and the payment simply falls. It is worth actively tracking, because the request at 80% will not make itself.
It also matters for how you read a calculator. Modelling PMI as a 30-year cost overstates the true figure of owning the home, which is why the tools here drop it at the point the rules allow rather than carrying it to the end of the schedule. You can see the effect in the breakdown of a full monthly payment.