FUCK A BITCH, WHAT? FUCK A BITCH.

“Gary, you really need a better way to express your frustrations with Mom.”

Rule of thumb when you’re trying to get approved for a loan is to disclose only what is asked for (income, debts, etc) the more you say and provide, the higher the risk is of having to do unnecessary legwork.

There’s a common understanding between loan processors that is essentially "if it’s not a detriment to the loan quality, necessary information like an additional owned rental propsrth, or an underwriting condition, the Underwriter doesn’t need to know. This is because the Underwriter is meant to scrutinize every detail of a loan. So something completely useless and innocuous could lead to a delay.

Unless you’re getting a cash-out refinance, financial institutions really don’t care what you spend your money on. The bank rep especially isn’t being paid enough to care.

If you think your home has increased in value enough to lower the LTV to 80% you can typically ask them to do a “drive-by” valuation to confirm.

Talk to your local government about any upcoming mortgage grants. Every community I have worked in has some grant that comes out during specific times each year. Usually just a few grand to cover closing costs, but I’ve seen some that cover 20% with a 4 year commitment to not sell the house.

There are also loan programs specifically meant for lower incomes; FHA typically has a higher debt-to-income threshold than conventional loans. Now, I still can’t afford a house even with that, but I have qualified many people who otherwise would not have made it past the Loan Officer.

I am not defending this, just explaining their perspective, but the institution is basically taking a risk of loss on any loan over 80%. The PMI helps lower the impact on that risk, and is paid by the borrower because they are the risk themselves.

If the bank has to foreclose within 6 months because someone hasn’t made their payments, they’re not going to get the same value the home was sold for when they put the home to auction. The lower the LTV, the higher the chance is that the bank can at least break even on the total loan given.

The value you can get from selling it down the line will more than cover that interest. You only really fuck yourself with that cost if you see the mortgage through to maturity.

I’ll state up front that I have been processing residential loans for about 12 years now.

Typically, you’d get PMI from a third party like Arch, Essent, MGIC, etc. They tend to be pretty strict about not removing PMI until the loan has been paid down to 80% LTV. A lot of institutions like to use them because they have a high underwriting standard (which reduces the risk of regulatory violations and discrimination.)

What you’re describing would not be the norm; my best guess is your financial institution is handling MI itself and is able to deviate from standard practice. In some cases, we will send out an appraiser to do a “drive-by” valuation on loans nearing 80% LTV, so it’s possible they confirmed your loan to value has decreased without telling you that exactly. I could even see them sending these if they confirm the county valuation of your property is high enough to be confosent about your estimated LTV.

All that said, though, I hate this industry and do everything I can to do as little as possible for these fucking predators. 9-5, fuck your conferences and I don’t give a fuck about the secondary market or servicing. PMI removal is far past my involvement, but I have an overall understanding of the Mortgage origination and servicing