When does PMI stop?
There is no single date. Federal law sets four, each with its own conditions, and the one that applies to you depends on what kind of loan you have and whether you ask. Paying extra every month moves only one of them — and not the one most people expect.
The four dates
Worked out below on a loan of 270,000 against a property valued at 300,000 — 10% down — over 30 years at 6.5%. Every figure comes from the amortisation schedule, recalculated on this page rather than quoted from anywhere.
| What ends the insurance | When | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| You ask, at 80% of original value | 7 years and 11 months | A written request, and three other conditions below |
| Automatic, at 78% | 9 years and 1 month | Being current on the loan. Nothing to send |
| High-risk loans, at 77% | 9 years and 8 months | The 80% and 78% rules do not apply to these at all |
| Final termination, at the midpoint of the term | 15 years and 1 month | Being current. Applies whatever the balance has done |
The gap between the first two lines is 14 months of insurance you pay only because you did not ask. That is the whole practical content of this question, and no result on the first page of Google puts the two dates side by side.
Paying extra does not move the automatic date
This is the part that catches people out, and it is written twice into the statute. The automatic termination is measured on the initial amortisation schedule alone — the law says irrespective of the outstanding balance. Send an extra 300 every month and your real balance crosses 78% years earlier; the date your servicer is obliged to act on does not move by a single day.
What paying extra does do is bring forward the date you can ask — because cancellation under subsection (a) may be counted on payments actually made. So the money is not wasted. It just does not work by itself.
Read at the sourceWhat “original value” means from United States Code, read .
Why the request gets refused
Every source says you can ask at 80%. Almost none says what asking requires. The statute lists four conditions, and they are cumulative:
- a written request to the servicer
- a good payment history
- being current on the loan
- evidence the property has not fallen below its original value, and certification that no subordinate lien encumbers the equity
The last one is the one that bites. A second mortgage or a home equity line is a subordinate lien, and it blocks cancellation even when the balance is well past 80%. So does a property that has fallen below what it was worth at the start — you have to show it has not.
Read at the sourceConditions for cancellation from United States Code, read .
The date nobody mentions
If neither of the first two has happened, the insurance ends anyway at the midpoint of the amortisation period. It is a floor, not an option, and it exists for loans that amortise too slowly to reach 78% in reasonable time. On a 40-year loan at 8% with 5% down, the midpoint arrives seven months before the 78% date — so it is the midpoint that ends the insurance, not the balance.
Read at the sourceFinal termination from United States Code, read .
And the money you are owed afterwards
Unearned premiums must be returned within 45 days of cancellation or termination. This is rarely mentioned and even more rarely claimed.
Read at the sourceReturn of unearned premiums from United States Code, read .
Your own dates
The mortgage calculator works these out for your loan, alongside the full monthly payment. The figures on this page are for the example above and nothing else — the statute is the same for everyone, the dates are not.
This page describes United States federal law and applies to conventional loans. FHA mortgage insurance is a different scheme with different rules, and nothing here covers it.