How the HPA Schedule Ends PMI on a Conventional Loan

The Quick Read: On a conventional loan, the payment schedule set at closing decides when private mortgage insurance (PMI) must end by law. The servicer has to drop it on the date your balance is first scheduled to reach 78% of the home’s original value, as long as you are current. Rising home prices don’t move that date. Extra payments don’t move it either.

Here is the part most buyers miss. 80% is a right to ask, not an automatic switch-off. Automatic comes at 78%, and a final backstop comes at the loan’s halfway point.

Across the wholesale programs Lendmire places files with, a purchase with less than 20% down carries mortgage insurance. The 95% standard purchase leverage and the 97% first-time-buyer leverage are the common examples. Knowing the end date before you close helps you plan around it. Buyers who skip that step often pay longer than they have to.

What Is the HPA Schedule, Exactly?

The HPA is the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998. It is the federal law that sets when PMI must end on a home loan. The CFPB’s examination manual notes the law was signed in July 1998 and took effect a year later.

Your “schedule” is the amortization schedule. That is the month-by-month table showing how each payment splits between interest and principal. It assumes you pay on time and pay only the required amount.

At closing, the lender gives you a disclosure with your projected 80% and 78% dates. Those dates come straight from that table. Look for them in your closing package. If you can’t find them, your servicer can tell you.

If you want to compare programs before you commit, Lendmire’s conventional loan programs page lays out the basics.

Three Ways PMI Ends

PMI can end three ways. One needs you to act. Two happen on their own. The table puts them side by side.

The mortgage insurance rule on our side of the table matches this. Insurance is required above 80% loan-to-value (LTV, the loan amount as a percentage of the home’s value). You may request cancellation at 80% of original value. The servicer must end it at 78%.

The request at 80%

You ask in writing once the balance is scheduled to reach 80% of original value, or actually reaches it sooner through extra payments. HelpWithMyBank.gov, run by the OCC, describes this as a right to ask. It is not automatic.

The servicer then checks your file. On the programs we place, expect a review of payment history, any second liens on the home, and whether the home’s value has dropped. Fannie Mae’s servicing rules spell out the history tests. You can’t have a payment 30 or more days late in the past 12 months. You must also be current when you ask.

The servicer answers in writing. If it says no, it must explain why, though the timing of that response varies by servicer and by file.

Automatic at 78%

Automatic termination takes no request and no appraisal. Per the CFPB, the servicer must end PMI on the date your balance is first scheduled to reach 78% of the property’s original value, provided you are current on that date.

Notice the wording: scheduled. The date comes from the original table, not from what you actually owe. A borrower who has paid down faster still follows the original date for the automatic trigger.

The midpoint backstop

If neither earlier event has ended PMI, the servicer must end it the month after the midpoint of the loan term. On a 30-year loan, the midpoint is after 15 years. You still need to be current.

Most borrowers never reach this rule. On a standard fixed-rate loan with a modest down payment, the 78% date arrives well before year 15. The backstop matters mainly for loans where principal shrinks slowly.

How the Schedule Sets Your Date

Think of it as a three-step lookup. Nothing here needs a calculator from you.

1. Start with original value. That is the purchase price or the appraised value at purchase.

2. Find 78% of that value. This is the balance the schedule has to reach.

3. Find the month the table first shows that balance or lower. That month is your automatic date.

Picture a buyer who puts 5% down on a home. Their starting balance is 95% of original value. The table has to chip away 17 percentage points of value, from 95% to 78%, before the automatic date arrives. Early payments are mostly interest, so that stretch takes a while. A buyer who puts 3% down has even further to go. Every figure here varies by lender and program — guidelines, property type, leverage, and credit profile all apply.

The 80% request date comes sooner, since 80% sits between the starting point and 78%. That gap is why asking can save you real months of premium.

Where the Schedule Date and Your Real Balance Part Ways

A common mix-up: people think extra payments push the automatic date forward. They don’t. Fannie Mae’s servicing guidance ties the automatic date to the original schedule. Extra principal can pull the 80% request date forward, though, because the request path looks at your actual balance.

So if you plan to prepay, plan to ask. Waiting for the 78% date means paying a little longer than necessary.

Appreciation works differently. The federal tests use original value. If your home is worth much more now, the HPA dates don’t change. Some investor rules let you cancel based on current value, but that takes a request and a new valuation, and seasoning rules apply. Those are separate from the HPA. The servicer can tell you whether your loan is reviewed and what valuation it will accept. You may pay for that valuation.

What If You Are Behind on the Date?

Automatic termination needs you to be current. The CFPB says that if you aren’t current on the termination date, PMI ends shortly after you bring payments up to date.

Fannie Mae defines “current” as follows: the payment due in the month before the termination date was paid by the end of the month it was due. A single missed payment around that date can delay the end of PMI by months.

The request path is stricter. The 30-day and 60-day late tests look back 12 and 24 months from the later of two dates: when the balance reaches 80%, or when you ask. One slip can block a request for a long time. Cure the late payment, then re-check the lookback window before you ask again.

Where the General Rule Breaks

The 78% rule is not universal. Know these exceptions before you plan around it.

• Two- to four-unit homes you live in, and investment properties. Under Fannie Mae’s rules, loans closed after July 1999 on these properties don’t get the 78% rule. Termination comes the month after the midpoint, if you are current. Freddie Mac treatment is similar, according to a mortgage-insurer summary, so ask your servicer. One-unit primary homes and second homes get the full rule.
• High-risk loans. The 80% and 78% provisions don’t apply to loans that the lender or the agencies classify as high-risk. For those, PMI can’t be required past the midpoint if you’re current, per the CFPB examination manual.
• Lender-paid mortgage insurance. The HPA covers borrower-paid PMI. Lender-paid insurance is built into the loan terms and generally stays for the life of the loan, so this schedule can’t remove it. Ask which type you have before closing.
• FHA loans. FHA uses its own mortgage insurance premium, not PMI. The HPA schedule doesn’t apply.
• State rules. Some states add their own cancellation rules.
• Refinancing. A refinance resets the clock. The new loan has a new original value, usually the new appraisal, and a new schedule.

Occupancy matters at purchase too. Leverage caps run lower for second homes and investment property than for a principal residence, so the same house can carry different insurance terms depending on how you use it.

How Loan Changes Affect the Date

Changes to a loan can shift the schedule. A refinance starts over, as noted. A modification or term change can rewrite the table. For an adjustable-rate loan, the schedule is recalculated when the rate resets. Ask your servicer which table governs after any change, and get the new dates in writing.

Finding Your Date and Stopping the Charge

Here is a short checklist.

• Find the closing disclosure. It shows projected 80% and 78% dates.
• Check your servicer portal. Many show the PMI termination date.
• Call if it’s missing. Ask for the date in writing.
• Decide: ask or wait. If you’ve prepaid or your balance is under 80% of original value, a written request can end PMI sooner.
• Wait for written confirmation. Don’t stop paying the insurance portion on your own. Stop only once the servicer confirms.

Once the servicer ends PMI, it should notify you. The lender’s compliance rules also cover the response to a request, including that written denial.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming PMI drops on its own at 80%. It doesn’t. You have to ask.
• Counting on appreciation to move the HPA date. It doesn’t.
• Refinancing just to shed PMI when a request or the automatic date would do it. Refinancing brings new closing costs. Cancellation keeps your existing loan.
• Letting a late payment slip in near the date.
• Stopping payments before the servicer confirms.
• Assuming every conventional loan gets the 78% rule. Two- to four-unit and investment loans don’t.

Key Terms Defined

Amortization schedule: the table showing how each payment splits between interest and principal over the loan term.

Original value: the purchase price or appraised value at purchase, used to measure the 80% and 78% marks.

Midpoint: the halfway point of the loan term, which is after 15 years on a 30-year loan.

Borrower-paid PMI: mortgage insurance you pay monthly on a conventional loan, which the HPA lets you end.

Lender-paid mortgage insurance: insurance the lender arranges and builds into the loan terms. The HPA schedule does not remove it.

Current: having your loan payments up to date as the servicer defines it.

Next Step

If you are buying a home and want to see whether a conventional loan fits your file, Lendmire can help you compare the options and what each one asks of the file. Program figures are subject to lender guidelines and full file review, and nothing here is a commitment to lend. For a related look at the cost side, Lendmire’s piece How Much Waiting to Avoid PMI Costs on a Move-Up Conventional Loan walks through the tradeoff.

For your own numbers, request a scenario review with Lendmire.

About Lendmire

Lendmire, NMLS# 2371349, is a mortgage brokerage with consumer lending licenses in 16 states. FHA, VA, conventional and jumbo purchase and refinance loans are arranged through wholesale lending partners, and each application is reviewed individually by the lender. Scotsman Guide named Lendmire a Top Mortgage Workplace in both 2025 and 2026.

References

1. CFPB Examination Manual – HPA procedures

2. HelpWithMyBank.gov – PMI removal

3. CFPB: When Can I Remove Private Mortgage Insurance PMI from My Loan

4. Fannie Mae Servicing Guide B-8.1-04