PMI Insurance for FHA and Conventional Loans

The annual cost of Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) varies and is expressed in terms of the total loan value. The PMI may be payable up front, or it may be capitalized onto the loan in the case of single premium product. This type of insurance is usually only required if the down payment is less than 20% of the sales price or appraised value (in other words, if the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) is 80% or more). Once the principal is reduced to 80% of value, the PMI is often no longer required. This can occur via the principal being paid down, via home value appreciation, or both.

What Is PMI?

PMI is extra insurance that lenders require from most homebuyers who obtain loans that are more than 80 percent of their new home's value. In other words, buyers with less than a 20 percent down payment are normally required to pay PMI.

Example

Let's say you put down 10 percent or $10,000 on a $100,000 house. The lender multiplies the 90 percent loan, or $90,000, by .005. The result is an annual PMI of $450, which is divided into monthly payments of $37.50.

Most home buyers need PMI because 20 percent of the sale price on a home is a lot of money; for instance, that's $20,000 on a $100,000 home. Home buyers must maintain the PMI premiums until they cross that one-fifth-of-principal threshold, a process that can take years in longer-term mortgages.

Benefits of PMI

PMI plays an important role in the mortgage industry by protecting a lender against loss if a borrower defaults on a loan and by enabling borrowers with less cash to have greater access to homeownership. With this type of insurance, it is possible for you to buy a home with as little as a 3 percent to 5 percent down payment. This means that you can buy a home sooner without waiting years to accumulate a large down payment

Why a Change in PMI Requirements?

In the past, most lenders honored consumers' requests to drop PMI coverage if their loan balance was paid down to 80 percent of the property value and they had a good payment history. However, consumers were responsible for requesting cancellation and many consumers were not aware of this possibility. Consumers had to keep track of their loan balance to know if they had enough equity and they had to request that the lender discontinue requiring PMI coverage. In many cases, people failed to make this request even after they became eligible, and they paid unnecessary premiums ranging from $250 to $1,200 per year for several years. With the new law, both consumers and lenders share responsibility for how long PMI coverage is required.

How Do You Cancel or Terminate PMI?

Cancellation

Under HPA, you have the right to request cancellation of PMI when you pay down your mortgage to the point that it equals 80 percent of the original purchase price or appraised value of your home at the time the loan was obtained, whichever is less. You also need a good payment history, meaning that you have not been 30 days late with your mortgage payment within a year of your request, or 60 days late within two years. Your lender may require evidence that the value of the property has not declined below its original value and that the property does not have a second mortgage, such as a home equity loan.

Automatic Termination

Under HPA, mortgage lenders or servicers must automatically cancel PMI coverage on most loans, once you pay down your mortgage to 78 percent of the value if you are current on your loan. If the loan is delinquent on the date of automatic termination, the lender must terminate the coverage as soon thereafter as the loan becomes current. Lenders must terminate the coverage within 30 days of cancellation or the automatic termination date, and are not permitted to require PMI premiums after this date. Any unearned premiums must be returned to you within 45 days of the cancellation or termination date.

For high risk loans, mortgage lenders or servicers are required to automatically cancel PMI coverage once the mortgage is paid down to 77 percent of the original value of the property, provided you are current on your loan.

Final Termination

Under HPA, if PMI has not been canceled or otherwise terminated, coverage must be removed when the loan reaches the midpoint of the amortization period. On a 30-year loan with 360 monthly payments, for example, the chronological midpoint would occur after 180 payments. This provision also requires that the borrower must be current on the payments required by the terms of the mortgage. Final termination must occur within 30 days of this date.

Tip
Keep track of your payments on the principal of the mortgage. When you reach the point where the loan-to-value ratio hits 80 percent, notify the lender that it is time to discontinue the PMI premiums. The Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, which took effect in 1999, requires lenders to tell the buyer at closing how many years and months it will take for them to reach that 80 percent level and cancel PMI. Lenders must automatically cancel PMI when the balance hits 78 percent.

Note: The law does allow lenders to continue requiring PMI all the way down to 50 percent equity for so-called high-risk borrowers. Traditionally, those loans that are considered riskier include reduced documentation loans, in which customers provide less proof of income and other information during the approval process. Loans for people with spotty credit histories and higher debt-to-income ratios also fall into this category. Additionally, some FHA loans require payment of PMI throughout the entire life of the loan.

Ways to avoid PMI
In today's market, there are some new ways to avoid mortgage insurance even when you don't have the standard 20 percent down payment.

Pay more interest: Some lenders will waive the mortgage insurance requirement if the buyer accepts a higher interest rate on the mortgage loan. The rate increases generally range from .75 percent to 1 percent, depending on the down payment. The advantage is that mortgage interest is tax deductible.

Using an "80-10-10" loan: This program involves two loans and a 10 percent down payment. The 90 percent loan is financed with a first mortgage equal to 80 percent of the sale price, and a second mortgage for the remaining 10 percent of the sale price. The second mortgage has a higher interest rate but since it applies to only 10 percent of the total loan, the monthly payments on the two mortgages are still lower than paying one mortgage with mortgage insurance. Plus, again, there is the advantage of mortgage interest being tax deductible.

Example: If we compare the purchase of a $100,000 home under the "80-10-10" plan with a standard fixed mortgage including PMI, we find that the former is $17.45 cheaper each month.

Here's how it works. Under the "80-10-10" plan, the 10 percent down payment on a $100,000 house is $10,000. The first mortgage is $80,000 at 7.50 percent, which comes to a monthly payment of $559. The second mortgage for $10,000 has a 9.50 percent interest rate, making a monthly payment of $84. Total monthly payments of the two loans: $643.

With a $10,000 down payment, one mortgage of $90,000 at 7.50 percent has a monthly payment of $629, plus PMI of $31.45, making a total payment of $660.45.

Mortgage Insurance Guidelines: Conventional Loans ^{Subject to change without notice}

	Purchase Money Mortgages and Full-Credit Qualifying Refinances = 1.75 Percent
	Streamline Refinances (all types) = 1.50 Percent
	FHASecure (Delinquent Mortgagors) = 3.00 Percent.

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