Private mortgage insurance protects exactly one party: your lender. If you put down less than 20% on a conventional loan, you're likely paying $100–$400 a month for it. US federal law — the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 — guarantees two exits, and market conditions often open a third.
Exit one: request at 80% LTV
Once your balance falls to 80% of the home's original value (the purchase price or original appraisal, whichever the lender used), you may request cancellation in writing. You must be current on payments, and the lender can require evidence the value hasn't declined. Mark the date: on a typical 10%-down loan at today's rates, amortization alone takes seven-plus years to get here.
Exit two: automatic at 78%
The lender must terminate PMI automatically when the balance reaches 78% of original value (or at the loan's midpoint, whichever comes first), provided you're current. No request needed — but waiting for it instead of acting at 80% typically costs another year-plus of premiums.
Exit three: the appreciation shortcut
The HPA dates use original value, but many servicers separately allow removal based on current appraised value — commonly at 80% LTV (some require 75%) after about two years of seasoning. In a rising market this beats the schedule by years. The trade: a $400–$700 appraisal fee, worth it whenever it costs less than the months of PMI it skips.
The FHA exception
FHA loans carry MIP, not PMI, and the HPA rules don't apply. For most FHA loans originated since 2013 with under 10% down, MIP lasts the life of the loan — the usual exit is refinancing into a conventional loan once you have 20% equity.
Find your dates
The PMI removal calculator computes all three dates for your loan — the 80% request date, the 78% automatic date, and the appreciation route — and totals exactly what acting at the earliest one saves. Extra principal payments pull every date closer; the extra payment calculator shows by how much.
A worked example
$450,000 purchase, 10% down — a $405,000 loan at 6.5% over 30 years, with PMI around $180/month. Eighty percent of original value is $360,000; pure amortization reaches it just before year 8, and the automatic 78% line about 14 months later. Now add 4% annual appreciation: the home is worth about $497,000 after 2.5 years, and the balance crosses 80% of current value around then — five years ahead of schedule. Acting on the appreciation route instead of waiting for automatic termination keeps roughly $180 × 70-plus months: five figures, for the price of one appraisal. The calculator computes all three dates from your exact inputs.
How to actually request it
The mechanics are mundane and worth doing properly: write to your servicer (the address for PMI requests is on your statement), state that you're requesting cancellation under the Homeowners Protection Act, your loan number, and the basis — scheduled 80% LTV or current appraised value. Be current on payments, with a clean recent payment history. If claiming appreciation, ask first which appraisers they accept; paying for the wrong appraisal is the classic wasted step. If the servicer stalls past the automatic 78% date, that's an HPA violation — a complaint to the CFPB tends to focus their attention.
Pull the dates closer
Every extra principal dollar moves all three exit dates toward you simultaneously — the 80% request, the 78% automatic, and the appreciation threshold. Borrowers targeting PMI removal often direct extras at the loan only until the 80% line, then redirect the cash elsewhere: a strategy with a dated, guaranteed payoff. Price it with the extra payment calculator alongside your PMI dates.