Under the Homeowners Protection Act, you may not be required to pay private mortgage insurance for the life of your loan. This federal law requires borrower-paid MI to be cancelled once you’ve built up a certain amount of equity in your home. The law applies to many mortgages; talk to your servicer for details on your mortgage. Note, loans with FHA financing require MI payments for the life of the loan.

You can request cancellation of your mortgage insurance when the balance on your mortgage reaches 80% of your home’s original value or current appraised value. To qualify for cancellation of MI, you’ll need a good, up-to-date payment history, and there can’t be any other active loans against the home. Some lenders also require verification that the property didn’t decrease in value.

When the mortgage balance reaches 78% of your home’s original value and your payments are current, the lender is required to automatically cancel the mortgage insurance.

You may be eligible for a refund of some mortgage insurance premiums when your MI policy is cancelled. It depends on which MI product you have, as well as certain other conditions. Talk with your servicer about your specific situation.