How To Remove PMI

If your current loan has lender-paid mortgage insurance, Fannie Mae requires the lender to keep that coverage in effect until the loan’s final payoff, so a refinance is how it ends. Borrower-paid coverage is different: it can stop when cancellation or termination is called for by law or by Fannie Mae guidelines, so ask your servicer which kind you have.

To refinance without PMI, the new conventional loan must come in under the point where Fannie Mae requires mortgage insurance, measured against the value used for the new loan. We run that check on your actual payoff and estimated value before you apply, since a small change in either one can decide it.

In 2026, a no-PMI conventional refinance on a one-unit house can be as large as $832,750 under standard limits. High-balance counties allow more, up to $2,010,950 at our top conventional ceiling*. We confirm your county’s limit when you apply.

Our conventional programs accept scores from 620 for a PMI-removal refinance on a primary home, second home or rental property. Automated underwriting findings and each program’s own requirements still apply.

No, refinancing with no cash out, labeled limited cash-out by Fannie Mae, can replace your current loan and drop PMI without taking equity out. On that kind of refinance, Fannie Mae caps the cash you receive at $2,000 or 1 percent of the loan amount, whichever is greater.

Often yes, because the value decides whether the new loan needs mortgage insurance, though Fannie Mae lets that value come from an appraisal, an AVM or another acceptable method. DU may offer value acceptance on a single-unit property valued under $1,000,000 when a usable prior appraisal is on file.

It depends on what the insurance is costing you against the cost of refinancing. A licensed loan officer will run both numbers side by side before you commit.

For many FHA loans, yes, because HUD bases its automatic annual MIP cancellation on the original amortization schedule and will not consider a new appraised value. That automatic cancellation covers only FHA loans closed on or after January 1, 2001 with case numbers assigned before June 3, 2013.

Yes, borrower-paid PMI can come off with no new loan once cancellation or termination is required by law or by Fannie Mae guidelines, and your servicer handles that request. Lender-paid coverage cannot, since Fannie Mae has the lender keep it until the loan is paid off. Learn more about conventional loan.

On a conventional loan there are two routes that do not involve a refinance. Once the balance reaches 80% of the original value of the home you can ask the servicer in writing to cancel the mortgage insurance, and once it reaches 78% the servicer has to drop it automatically. Both rights come from the Homeowners Protection Act. A good payment history is required, and the servicer can ask for evidence that the value has not declined.

Sometimes. Some servicers will cancel mortgage insurance based on the current value rather than the original value, which usually means paying for a new appraisal or a broker price opinion and meeting a minimum time since closing. The rules vary by servicer and by program. When the servicer will not use current value, a refinance is the route that does, because the new loan is sized against today’s appraised value.

Yes. If the new loan lands at or below 80% of the appraised value there is no monthly mortgage insurance on it at all. That is the whole point of this refinance, and it is why homeowners who bought with a small down payment and have since gained equity end up here.

A refinance can remove PMI as soon as your home’s current value supports a new loan that needs no mortgage insurance, because Fannie Mae accepts an appraisal or AVM value on a refinance. We compare that route with a cancellation request to your servicer using your current balance.

Saxton Mortgage does. Our conventional programs accept scores from 620 for a refinance that removes PMI on a primary home, second home or rental property, with loans up to $832,750 on a one-unit home under standard 2026 limits.

Borrower-paid PMI can be canceled or terminated when the law or Fannie Mae guidelines call for it. Your servicer handles the request and can tell you when your loan reaches that point. If your home has gained value and you would rather not wait, a refinance is the other route.