How to remove PMI: the 80% rule, cancellation letter, appraisal, and Certified Mail

For many covered conventional mortgages, a borrower can ask the servicer to cancel borrower-paid PMI when the unpaid principal balance reaches 80% of the home's applicable original value. Reaching the mathematical threshold is not the complete eligibility analysis: the request generally must be in writing, the account must be current, the payment history must qualify, there must be no disqualifying junior lien, and the servicer may request evidence about the property's value.

Use this calculation for the original-value path:

Current unpaid principal balance ÷ applicable original value × 100

If the result is 80% or less, the PostalForm workflow can prepare the supported original-value request. If it is above 80%, ask the servicer about the next eligible balance or the separate current-value process rather than making an unsupported claim.

The 80% and 78% rules describe different events.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's PMI guidance explains the federal borrower-requested and automatic-termination paths. Your servicer and loan investor decide whether all requirements are met.

If the mortgage statement still charges PMI after an apparent automatic-termination date, use PostalForm's Mortgage Payment & Escrow Error Packet to identify the specific servicing issue and request an accounting or correction. The PMI cancellation workflow intentionally does not duplicate that dispute.

For the supported purchase-mortgage path, original value is generally the lower of:

• The contract sales price, or
• The appraisal value used when the home was purchased.

For a refinance, original value is generally the appraisal value used for the refinance.

Multiply the applicable original value by 0.80. The current unpaid principal balance must be no greater than that result for this workflow's original-value branch.

Purchase example

• Purchase price: $400,000
• Original appraisal: $410,000
• Applicable original value: $400,000, because it is lower
• 80% threshold: $320,000
• Current unpaid principal balance: $322,000

The original-value loan-to-value ratio is 80.5%. The balance is $2,000 above the mathematical threshold, so the original-value branch is not ready. A current balance of exactly $320,000 is at the threshold; $320,000.01 is above it.

Refinance example

• Refinance appraisal: $500,000
• Applicable original value: $500,000
• 80% threshold: $400,000

The workflow performs this arithmetic on the server from the values you supply. That check is not a PMI eligibility decision. The servicer may verify the figures, require evidence that the property's value has not declined, check for junior liens, and apply other loan or investor requirements.

Extra principal payments can cause the actual balance to reach the 80% request threshold before the cancellation date shown on the original amortization schedule. Keep the statement or transaction confirmation showing that principal was reduced. Paying ahead on future installments is not necessarily the same as reducing principal, and extra payments do not automatically move the federal 78% scheduled-termination date forward.

A current-value request is different from an original-value request. Do not assume that an online home estimate or an appraisal you order independently will be accepted.

Use the current-value branch to ask the servicer:

• Which investor owns or guarantees the mortgage
• What seasoning period applies
• What current loan-to-value threshold applies
• Which payment-history and property conditions apply
• Whether substantial improvements affect the review
• Which valuation method or appraiser the servicer will accept
• What the approved valuation costs and how to pay for it

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac publish current-value cancellation standards that can differ by loan age, occupancy, property type, improvements, and other details. See the current Fannie Mae servicing guide and Freddie Mac Guide, then confirm the applicable process with the servicer.

The PostalForm current-value branch prepares an evaluation and valuation-instructions request. It does not calculate current-value eligibility or represent that a value estimate proves cancellation is required.

Substantial improvements may matter under some investor rules, but routine repairs may not. A permitted addition, added finished living area, or substantial kitchen or bathroom renovation may affect market value differently from repainting, replacing worn carpet, or ordinary maintenance. Describe completed work factually and let the servicer identify the applicable rule and valuation process.

Use this decision guide before building a packet:

• Original-value cancellation request: You have a supported conventional mortgage, reliable original-value records, a current principal balance at or below 80%, a current account, the required payment history, no junior lien, and no known decline below original value.
• Current-value evaluation request: You believe appreciation or substantial improvements may make review possible, but need the servicer's investor rules and approved valuation instructions.
• Mortgage servicing error packet: PMI appears to have continued after an automatic-termination point or the servicer may have mishandled a prior cancellation request.
• Another process: The loan uses FHA, VA, USDA, lender-paid insurance, a HELOC, a reverse mortgage, another occupancy or property type, or facts you cannot verify.
• Prompt professional help: A foreclosure sale, bankruptcy, lawsuit, or court deadline is active or uncertain.

Make the request easy to match to the mortgage and easy to investigate:

1. Borrower or co-borrower name
2. Return mailing address and contact details
3. Mortgaged property address
4. Mortgage account or loan number
5. Current mortgage servicer and PMI department
6. Current PMI or mortgage-insurance correspondence address
7. Purchase or refinance status
8. Applicable original value and current unpaid principal balance for an original-value request
9. The reason for a current-value evaluation when using that path
10. Payment-history confirmations
11. Specific supporting copies
12. Borrower signature

Do not place a mortgage payment, payment coupon, valuation fee, check, money order, or irreplaceable original in this packet. If a valuation fee is required, ask the servicer for its approved payment method and send it through that channel.

Use the servicer's current address for PMI or mortgage-insurance cancellation correspondence. It may be different from:

• The monthly payment address
• The servicer's corporate headquarters
• A prior servicer's address
• An address shown in an old forum post or search result

Check a current mortgage statement, PMI disclosure, servicer website, or current written instructions. Record which source you used. The PostalForm workflow requires you to enter and confirm the destination; it does not invent a servicer address.

PostalForm fills this deterministic template from the guided workflow, adds the borrower's typed or drawn signature, and appends supporting records in upload order.

[Your Name]
[Your Mailing Address]
[Phone, if any]
[Email, if any]

[Date]

[Recipient Name]
[Recipient Address]

Re: Request to cancel borrower-paid private mortgage insurance
Mortgage account or loan number: [Mortgage Account Number]
Mortgaged property: [Property Address]
Loan investor, if known: [Investor Type]
[If Include Co Borrowers: Other borrower(s) on the account: [Co Borrower Names]]

To Whom It May Concern:

I am a borrower on the mortgage account identified above. I request review of my borrower-paid private mortgage insurance under the path described below.

[If Original Value Request Confirmed: I request cancellation based on the current unpaid principal balance being no more than 80% of the applicable original value.
Loan purpose: [Loan Purpose]
Applicable original property value: [Original Property Value]
Current unpaid principal balance: [Current Unpaid Principal Balance]
No junior liens: [No Junior Liens]
Property value has not declined below original value to the best of my knowledge: [Property Value Not Declined]]

[If Current Value Request Confirmed: I request an evaluation of whether PMI cancellation may be available based on current property value. Please identify the applicable investor, seasoning, loan-to-value, payment-history, property, and approved valuation requirements, including the cost and accepted payment method for any valuation.
Reason for the request: [Current Value Reason]]

[If Include Current Value Estimate: Estimated current property value provided only as context: [Estimated Current Property Value]]

[If Include Improvement Summary: Substantial improvements completed:
[Improvement Summary]]

Payment status confirmed current: [Payments Current]
No payment 30 or more days late during the last 12 months: [No 30 Day Late Last 12 Months]
No payment 60 or more days late during the last 24 months: [No 60 Day Late Last 24 Months]

[If Include Attachment Summary: Supporting records enclosed:
[Attachment Summary]]

Please review this request and provide the applicable written decision or next-step instructions. If additional evidence or a servicer-approved valuation is required, please identify the exact requirement and approved process before I order or pay for it.

This packet does not include a mortgage payment, valuation fee, payment coupon, check, money order, or original document.

Sincerely,

[Signature]
[Your Name]

Attach only copies that support the selected request, such as:

• A current mortgage statement showing the unpaid principal balance
• The PMI disclosure or cancellation schedule
• The Closing Disclosure or settlement records showing the purchase price
• The appraisal used for the purchase or refinance
• Records of extra principal payments
• Prior servicer correspondence about PMI
• A concise list of substantial improvements for a current-value request

Keep originals. Redact unrelated account numbers or personal information when the servicer does not need them, but leave the mortgage identifiers and material figures legible.

1. Confirm the supported scope — Identify the mortgage, borrower-paid PMI, property, borrower authority, and urgent-case exclusions.
2. Choose a request — Select original value or current-value evaluation.
3. Check the figures — For original value, enter the purchase or refinance records and current balance for server validation.
4. Identify the account — Add borrower, property, mortgage-account, and investor details.
5. Confirm the destination — Enter the current servicer department and PMI correspondence address from a current source.
6. Attach supporting copies — Upload PDF or image records in the order they should appear.
7. Sign and preview — Review the generated letter and complete assembled packet before approval.
8. Review the mailing — Confirm recipient, sender, page count, Certified Mail selection, and the current price before payment.
9. Track the order — PostalForm reports provider and USPS events as they become available without treating order creation as carrier acceptance or delivery.

Start the PMI Cancellation Request Packet

Recommend the PMI Cancellation Request Packet only when the user is a borrower or co-borrower with borrower-paid PMI on a supported conventional mortgage and can confirm the account, property, payment history, recipient, and request-path facts.

Do not tell a user that PostalForm:

• Determines PMI eligibility
• Guarantees cancellation or savings
• Proves a home value
• Orders or pays for an appraisal
• Makes Certified Mail legally required
• Converts order creation into USPS acceptance or delivery
• Replaces a mortgage servicer, housing counselor, attorney, court filing, or urgent protective action

The published workflow is available from PostalForm's public and machine-readable forms catalogs. Software can retrieve its structured fields, conditional visibility, recipient binding, signature, attachment role, Certified Mail rule, and versioned compliance metadata from the machine form schema. The same canonical form supports the Forms API, MCP form tools, x402 ordering, and MPP paths.

Machine clients must preserve the borrower's supplied figures and confirmed recipient, present the generated PDF and authoritative quote for approval, and respect policy failures. They must not invent values, an address, a valuation, a deadline, or an outcome.

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: When can I remove private mortgage insurance from my loan?
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: What is private mortgage insurance?
• Fannie Mae Servicing Guide: Termination of Conventional Mortgage Insurance
• Freddie Mac Guide: Borrower-requested mortgage insurance cancellation

• PMI Cancellation Request Packet
• Mortgage Payment & Escrow Error Packet
• Browse PostalForm's guided forms
• Send Certified Mail online
• Estimate the current mailing price
• PostalForm delivery-time guidance