Hey gang!
My PMI payments were at $77 a month, so i paid my LTV to 79.9% today for my July 1 payment so that my PMI was cancelled. As per my PMI annual notice, I wrote to my mortgage servicer to cancel my PMI now that my LTV was below 80%.
My servicer responded that in Minnesota (where I live), the loan MUST be 24 months old to cancel PMI. My loan is 19 months old. The statute is MN 47.207 (
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=47.207). This law pretty clearly states that the loan needs to be 24 months old to cancel PMI. HOWEVER, in subdivision 6 it says, "Nothing in this section shall be deemed to be inconsistent with the federal Homeowner's Protection Act of 1998." So, being the junior investigator that I am, I went and found the Homeowner's Protection Act of 1998. In it, it says that my loan servicer MUST cancel my PMI payments if i meet the following requirements (which i do):
Is first scheduled to reach 80 percent of the
‘‘original value’’4 (regardless of the outstanding
balance), based on
– The initial amortization schedule (in the
case of a fixed-rate loan)
– The amortization schedules (in the case of
an adjustable-rate loan) or
– Reaches 80 percent of the ‘‘original value,’’
based on actual payments
• The borrower has a good payment history
• The borrower satisfies any requirement of the
mortgage holder for
– Evidence of a type established in advance
that the value of the property has not declined
below the original value and
– Certification that the borrower’s equity in the
property is not subject to a subordinate lien
So, what can I do? This is going to cost me $308 in PMI payments, so hiring a lawyer would be cost-inefficient, but i think the MN law is on the wrong side here. What are my options?