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Getting rid of PMI without refinancing

October 12, 20262 min readHelloLend Team

Private mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you, and on a conventional loan it is not permanent. Refinancing is one way out, but it is usually the most expensive one, and often unnecessary once you have built enough equity to ask.

Where PMI comes off a conventional loan
Ask your servicer to cancel80% LTV
Servicer ends it automatically78% LTV

Loan-to-value against the original purchase price or appraised value, whichever was lower. Cancellation at 80% needs a written request.

Routes that do not need a new loan

  • Borrower-requested cancellation at 80% loan-to-value, based on the original purchase price or appraised value, whichever was lower
  • Automatic termination at 78% LTV, which the servicer must complete on its own using the original amortization schedule
  • Final termination at the midpoint of the loan term, regardless of loan-to-value
  • A new appraisal documenting appreciation, which many servicers will accept as grounds for early cancellation
  • Extra principal payments, which move you to the 80% threshold faster than the schedule would

What your servicer will ask for

  • A written request. Cancellation at 80% does not happen on its own, even once you have reached it
  • A clean recent payment history
  • No second lien on the property, in most cases
  • A seasoning period, commonly two years, before an appreciation-based cancellation will be considered

FHA mortgage insurance follows entirely different rules.

On most current FHA loans the annual premium remains for the life of the loan, and refinancing into a conventional loan is the only way to remove it. Confirm which type of insurance you are paying before assuming a cancellation request will work.

Published October 12, 2026 by the HelloLend Team. General information, not legal or financial advice. Talk to your loan officer about your own loan. This is not a commitment to lend or extend credit.

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Not sure which insurance you have?

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