Mortgage insurance lowers the risk to the lender of making a loan to you, so you can qualify for a loan that you might not otherwise be able to get. Typically, borrowers making a down payment of less than 20 percent of the purchase price of the home will need to pay for mortgage insurance.
Once the mortgage's LTV ratio drops to 78%—meaning your down payment, plus the loan principal you've paid off, equals 22% of the home's purchase price—the federal Homeowners Protection Act requires the lender to automatically cancel the insurance.
If you buy a $300,000 home, you could be paying somewhere between $600 – $6,000 per year in mortgage insurance. This cost is broken into monthly installments to make it more affordable. In this example, you're likely looking at paying $50 – $500 per month.
Once your home equity reaches 22%, your PMI payments will automatically stop. To stop PMI payments sooner, when your home equity reaches 20%, simply ask your lender to stop the PMI payments. What is PMI or Private Mortgage Insurance?
Upfront mortgage insurance premium (MIP) is required for most of the FHA's Single Family mortgage insurance programs.
With borrower-paid PMI, the premiums are part of your monthly mortgage payment, and you'll be able to stop paying them once you reach 20 percent equity in your home — if you request cancellation — or automatically when your mortgage balance reaches 78 percent of your home's value.
For recent FHA loans, you will need to pay insurance premiums for at least 11 years and you may need to pay them for the life of the loan. Some FHA homeowners refinance into a conventional loan to stop paying for mortgage insurance. Learn more about how to stop paying for mortgage insurance.
Request PMI cancellation when mortgage balance reaches 80 percent. Another way the PMI Cancellation Act benefits you is by granting you the right to remove PMI once you have reached 20 percent equity in your home; that is, once your loan balance reaches 80 percent of the home's original value.
To sum up, when it comes to PMI, if you have less than 20% of the sales price or value of a home to use as a down payment, you have two basic options: Use a "stand-alone" first mortgage and pay PMI until the LTV of the mortgage reaches 78%, at which point the PMI can be eliminated. 2. Use a second mortgage.
When PMI is canceled, the lender has 45 days to refund applicable premiums. That said, do you get PMI back when you sell your house? It's a reasonable question considering the new borrower is on the hook for mortgage insurance moving forward. Unfortunately for you, the seller, the premiums you paid won't be refunded.
A single premium PMI policy typically requires a payment of 1% to 2% of your loan amount, so on that $180,000 loan you would pay between $1,800 and $3,600 at the settlement. You may also be able to wrap this single premium into your mortgage so it is financed over the 30-year loan period rather than on an annual basis.
Private mortgage insurance (PMI) is a type of mortgage insurance you might be required to buy if you take out a conventional loan with a down payment of less than 20 percent of the purchase price. PMI protects the lender—not you—if you stop making payments on your loan.
What Does a High PMI Reading Indicate? The Purchasing Managers' Index reading can range between 0 and 100. If the index reading is higher than 50, then it indicates an economic expansion. This means that the closer the reading is to 100, the higher the degree of positive economic growth.
Ask to cancel your PMI: If your loan has met certain conditions and your loan to original value (LTOV) ratio falls below 80%, you may submit a written request to have your mortgage servicer cancel your PMI. For more information about canceling your PMI, contact your mortgage servicer.
To request cancellation of PMI, you should contact your loan servicer when the loan balance falls below 80 percent of your home's original value (the contract sales price or the appraised value of your home at the time it was purchased). This date appears on a PMI disclosure form that was provided by the lender.
Getting rid of PMI is pretty simple. All a borrower has to do is pay down the loan's principal balance to 80% or lower of the home's original appraised value, or to 80% of the home's current market value. All this means is that a borrower must show they have at least 20% equity in the property.
Get an Appraisal
Many lenders (like Fannie Mae) also require a two-year “seasoning requirement,” meaning you can't have PMI removed until you've made two years' worth of on-time payments—even if your equity has grown above 20%. If it's been less than five years, you might even be required to have 25% worth of equity.
Most people stop paying PMI when they've gained enough equity in their homes after paying down the mortgage for a number of years. You can also cancel PMI if your home value increases earlier than you would have been able to, but you'll need to get an official appraisal showing what your home is worth.
The benefits of PMI are that it helps overcome the biggest hurdles to homeownership, which are housing affordability and inventory. PMI allows more people to buy homes now in a hot, higher-priced market, rather than waiting. But it comes with a price.
Most lenders require that your LTV ratio be 80% or lower before they will cancel your PMI. Note: Some lenders express the percentage in reverse, requiring at least 20% equity in the property, for example.
For mortgages with an FHA case number assignment date on or after June 3, 2013, the FHA insurance can be terminated by the servicer or holder if the mortgage is paid in full before the maturity date.
Lender-required cancellation under HPA
The lender must automatically cancel the mortgage insurance policy either: On the date the mortgage loan balance is first scheduled to reach 78% of original value, based solely on the initial amortization schedule2, regardless of the outstanding balance of the loan AND.
In January 2013, the FHA announced it would require most borrowers to continue paying annual premiums for the life of their mortgage loan.
To qualify for an FHA-insured loan, you need a minimum credit score of 580 for a loan with a 3.5% down payment, and a minimum score of 500 with 10% down. However, many FHA lenders require credit scores of at least 620.
An FHA mortgage insurance premium (MIP) is an additional fee you pay to protect the lender in case you default on your FHA loan. FHA borrowers must pay two mortgage insurance premiums: one upfront at closing and another annually for as long as they repay the loan, in most cases.