Comments on: Cancelling PMI when Home Value Increases

By: Lilly

Lilly — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:55:44 +0000

My pmi is due to expire in April of 2012, citi Mortgage said they will not remove it until i pay the late fees. Can they do that

By: Brian Bober

Brian Bober — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:05:22 +0000

Btw, I’m at 76% LTV and won’t have it automatically cancelled until 2015 unless I get it appraised by Citi. More info here: http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/hpa.pdf

By: Brian Bober

Brian Bober — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:04:24 +0000

Sadly, HPA fails because HPA requires automatic cancellation based on when the loan is SCHEDULED to reach 78%, not when it reaches 78%. Therefore, you get no benefit under HPA for pre-payment unless you completely pay off the loan. You could pay it down to 10% and still have to pay PMI.

At 80% LTV, you can request cancellation but have to follow the lender’s rules. Citi requires an appraisal fee

By: Herman F. Posner

Herman F. Posner — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 23:12:42 +0000

Request copy of PMI appraisal amount on account number 0770211308. Property located at 905 Powderhorn, Roundrock, TX 78681. Need copy for tax purposes. Thank you.

We may be reached at bjandherb@yahoo.com
or by phone at 623-975-0071.

Herman F. Posner
Betty Jean Posner

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:29:19 +0000

Tracy,

I just had a similar conversation with Citimortgage that left a bad taste in my mouth. He said I needed to get down to 78% loan-to-value, but that to determine that, a mandatory $385 (that I have to pay) appraisal has to be conducted.

I’ll have to do some more reading on the home owner protection act, but it certainly seems that Citimortgage is not following the guidelines about 78% LTV using the “original appraised value” for the “V”.

What can one do to fight it, even if they aren’t following regulation? They have you over a barrel. You don’t want to make too big a fight over it because they are holding the keys to your mortgage and credit score, and could easily make one’s life a living hell if they chose to.

I’m trying to figure out what the motivation is for Citi, since they aren’t the insurance policyholder… but I guess the motivation is that they get to hold onto more escrow money.

Banks suck.

By: Tracy Beach

Tracy Beach — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 04:50:50 +0000

I recently requested PMI to be removed from Citimortgage. They said that I qualify for it to be removed because I was at 74.3% LTV. I had paid off 25.7% of my loan about 3.5 months ago now.

However, they said that to get it completely removed I had to have an appraisal to make sure my property value hadn’t gone below the loan amount. $385 for the appraisal. I asked Citimortgage about the Home Owners Protection Act of 1998 and why my PMI wasn’t automatically terminated when I owned 22% of my loan and they basically said they didn’t pay attention to that act and that they weren’t familiar with it. I kid you not.

So now I have an appraiser coming over this Friday, Nov 12. This guy was chosen by Citimortgage’s LSI firm. The guy doesn’t even have a website or a listing in the BBB and his name is John Hinkley. On top of that, he will not even divulge any information to me and will only send his report to Citimortgage.

Does this not smell of a complete and utter scam? Who or where do I go to get someone to consult me on the HPA of 1998? Do I need a lawyer here? Any advice would be very appreciated. I feel at this point I’m due some pay back from Citimortgage and am tired of being taken advantage of. I’ve never missed a payment and am a good customer.

By: Alison Shuman

Alison Shuman — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:06:05 +0000

Most of the focus this summer for our appraisal business has been on folks refinancing to take advantage of low rates. Not so much on PMI removal.

We hope, hope, hope, however, that PMI removal gets back on the upswing because it means, in part, that homes values are rising again!

Great article here!

By: Stacie

Stacie — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:06:18 +0000

@ Ann: From the information I have found on various websites, they cannot require you to have another appraisal done. The law specifically refers to the original appraisal value. I have seen references to your loan having to be current for the previous year, but maybe it is two years. Check with your state’s attorney general’s office. (I realize this info may be too late for you based on your posting date, but maybe it will help someone else.)

I had my home reappraised after three years of regular payments. The new value would put me over the 80%. The company told me, however, that since it was within the first five years of my loan, they required a 75% ratio for the new appraisal. I needed to pay an additional $4,000+ to get to that point, which I couldn’t do on the spot. I just kept making regular payments thinking the PMI would be cancelled when I reached 5 years and could then use the 80% value. What they didn’t tell me until it was too late is that the new appraisal was only good for six months. The appraised value dropped back to the original when I got my annual statement. I had to call to find out that the now 4 year old figure is considered more valid than the 1 year old figure. I haven’t had any luck finding out if this is something I can legally dispute. The company wouldn’t refund any of my $350 fee for the appraisal even though they did not disclose the six month rule on new appraisals.

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 03:40:55 +0000

My spouse and I have paid down our $160,000 mortgage to $124,000 in the first 15 months of our 30 year mortgage. This corresponds to Loan-to-Value (LTV) under 78%. Two months prior to closing our home appraised for $170,000. This statement qualifies that the appraisal is 17 months old. Additionally, local real estate values for homes similar to ours have appreciated about $20,000.

Our PMI is about $900 a year. We requested termination of PMI to our mortgage broker verbally and in writing. His response on our answering machine is that the “RULE” is that we must wait 24 months from the origination of the mortgage, before making the request. At that time we must purchase a new appraisal and then the request will be considered.

Does the Homeowner’s Protection Act of 1998 allow this manatory 24 month waiting period? Or can this stipulation LEGALLY be written into a mortgage agreement?

If anyone can direct us to a government agency or other reputable website on this matter, we would greatly appreciate it. Also, any suggestions on courses of action are welcome. Thanks in advance!

By: Tyler Weaver

Tyler Weaver — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 05:29:51 +0000

I believe my PMI with my government loan is fixed term. However, it is irrelevant since the price of capital is so low… I am going to drag this one out as long as possible probably.

By: David Porter

David Porter — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 21:54:14 +0000

Jim,

Here is a piece that I did on this subject a while back. If you, or your readers have further questions, please give me a shout.

Ask Dave! – Getting Rid of PMI Insurance

[edit: unfortunately David's blog has been removed ]

By: jim

jim — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 19:24:58 +0000

So you’re saying even if the LTV on the new value was under 80%, they wouldn’t remove it?

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 19:10:37 +0000

This is a very interesting article but not entirely accurate. The The Homeowner’s Protection Act of 1998 as mentioned above requires the lender to remove PMI based on the ORIGINAL APPRAISED VALUE not necessarily the new appraised value. When a new appraisal is done your lender will confirm with the innvestor what their requirements are. In my case, I spent $300 on a new appraisal that put my house at a 76.5% Loan to Value and I thought I was getting PMI removed. I found out 3 weeks later after submitting my request the investor wanted to be 75% or less. Just keep in mind that the 80% / 78% is based on ORIGINAL APPRAISAL.

Jason