The short answer
PMI comes off automatically when your mortgage balance is scheduled to reach 78% of your home's original value, as long as you're current on payments. You don't have to wait that long: you can ask your servicer to cancel it at 80%. And no matter what, PMI must end at the halfway point of your loan, which is 15 years into a 30-year mortgage. These rules come from the Homeowners Protection Act and apply to most conventional loans on primary homes closed after July 1999.
The three dates that matter
Every PMI policy covered by federal law has three important points. Think of them as the early exit, the automatic exit, and the last resort.
80%: the exit you can ask for. When your balance reaches 80% of the original value, you can send your servicer a written request to cancel PMI. To qualify, you need a good payment history, no second mortgage on the home, and proof the home's value hasn't dropped below the original value. Your servicer may ask for an appraisal.
78%: the automatic exit. When your balance is scheduled to reach 78% of the original value, your servicer must cancel PMI. You don't have to ask. You do need to be current on payments that day. If you're behind, it ends once you catch up.
Halfway: the last resort. If PMI hasn't ended by the midpoint of your loan's term, it must end the following month. On a 30-year loan, that's after 15 years.
What "original value" means
Original value is the lower of two numbers: what you paid for the home, or what it appraised for when you got the loan.
That matters because the automatic rules ignore what your home is worth today. If your house has gone up $80,000 in value, the 78% rule doesn't care. To get credit for appreciation, you have to ask, usually with a new appraisal. See whether a new appraisal can remove PMI.
Real dates on a real loan
Take a $400,000 home and a 30-year mortgage at 6.5%. Here's when regular payments reach each line:
| Down payment | Loan | Can request at 80% | Ends automatically at 78% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | $380,000 | 10 years, 4 months | 11 years, 3 months |
| 10% | $360,000 | 7 years, 11 months | 9 years, 1 month |
| 15% | $340,000 | 4 years, 8 months | 6 years, 3 months |
Notice the gap between the two columns: more than a year in every case. Requesting at 80% instead of waiting for 78% is free money. On the 10% down example with $150 a month in PMI, those 14 months are worth about $2,100.
Want your own dates? A free payoff projection shows your loan's schedule.
The word "scheduled" matters
The 78% rule is based on your original payment schedule. That means extra payments don't make automatic cancellation happen sooner. If you've paid extra and your actual balance is already below 80%, the law doesn't trigger anything on its own. You have to ask.
That's why people who pay extra should always request cancellation in writing the moment they cross 80%. Otherwise they keep paying PMI on a loan that no longer needs it. More on that in how to get rid of PMI early.
Loans these rules don't cover
FHA loans have their own mortgage insurance, MIP, with different rules. For many FHA borrowers, it lasts for the life of the loan. See PMI vs. FHA mortgage insurance.
Loans closed before July 29, 1999 follow older rules and lender policy.
Some higher-risk loans may have a later automatic date, though the halfway rule still applies.
Lender-paid PMI is built into your interest rate and doesn't come off at 78%. We explain the difference in how PMI works.
What to do if PMI doesn't come off
Check your statement the month after your scheduled 78% date. If PMI is still there, call your servicer. Ask what your original value is on file, what they show as your scheduled date, and whether anything, like a late payment, is holding it up. Servicers make mistakes. A five-minute call can save you hundreds of dollars a month.
After PMI is gone
That freed-up payment is new money in your budget. Point it at your principal and it can shave years off your loan. See what to do once PMI ends and every option in PMI explained.
It's also worth making sure the house is protected if your income stops. PMI never protected you; mortgage protection can. And if you want to see how much faster the rest of the loan could go, Ridgewell's Mortgage Accelerator Program is designed to help qualifying households pay off a home in as little as 5 to 7 years.
Payoff timelines are illustrations for qualifying households and are not guaranteed.
Where to start
Find your original value and your loan's start date, then ask your servicer for your scheduled 80% and 78% dates. Put the 80% date on your calendar with a reminder to send the cancellation request.
If you'd like to know how much sooner you could get there, get a free payoff projection.
Examples assume a $400,000 home and a 30-year fixed mortgage at 6.5%, with PMI at 0.5% of the original loan amount, figures rounded. Rules described apply to most conventional loans on single-family primary residences closed on or after July 29, 1999.
