How to Remove PMI from Your loanDepot Mortgage

loanDepot doesn't publish a step-by-step PMI cancellation policy, which leads a lot of homeowners to assume there isn't one. There is — it's federal law, and it applies to your loan regardless of what the website says. What follows is the practical route, including the one filing trick that gets a slow request moving.

Step 1: Confirm You Have the Equity

Your loan-to-value ratio is your current principal balance divided by your home's value. Two dates matter:

• 80% LTV — you can request cancellation. Under the Homeowners Protection Act this is your right, not a favour.
• 78% LTV — loanDepot must terminate PMI automatically on your original amortization schedule, as long as you're current.

If your home has appreciated, your real LTV today may already be well under 80% even though the payment schedule says otherwise. That's the basis for an early request.

Step 2: Start With the Servicing Line

loanDepot splits its servicing contacts across several numbers. For a PMI cancellation, the existing-loans and customer care lines are the ones you want:

Ask two things and write down the answers: what LTV your loan needs, and which valuation type they'll accept. Those answers decide whether the request is worth making now.

Step 3: Send It in Writing — to the Right PO Box

loanDepot runs separate addresses for payments, general inquiries, and written requests. Your cancellation request belongs in the written-requests box, not the general inquiries one:

Step 4: Why That Address Matters More Than It Looks

That box is loanDepot's intake for Qualified Written Requests and Requests for Information under the federal mortgage servicing rules. A request for information carries deadlines an ordinary letter doesn't: the servicer must acknowledge it within 5 business days and respond within 30 business days (extendable by 15 with notice).

Asking for PMI to be cancelled is a request for action, so it isn't automatically covered. But asking what the requirements are is a request for information — so pair them. In the same letter, request cancellation based on current value and ask loanDepot to state the specific LTV threshold, payment-history rule, and valuation type that apply to your loan. The second half comes with a clock attached, and it's hard to answer without engaging with the first.

Include your name as it appears on the loan, your loan number, and the property address on everything you send.

Step 5: The Valuation

Because an early cancellation rests on your home being worth more than it was, expect a valuation — a Broker Price Opinion or a full appraisal — and expect to pay for it. A full appraisal commonly runs $350 to $550; a BPO, where accepted, is usually far less.

Don't order one yourself first. Servicers use their own approved vendors, so an independent report generally won't be accepted.

Step 6: Follow Through to Written Confirmation

When the valuation supports your LTV, PMI comes off and your payment drops. Get it confirmed in writing, and check the following statement to be sure the charge is actually gone.

The Bottom Line

loanDepot's thin public guidance is the problem and the opening. The rules are federal, so they apply whether or not the servicer spells them out — and a written request sent to the right PO Box comes with response deadlines attached.

PMI Ninja manages loanDepot cancellations from start to finish — confirming your equity before you spend anything, filing the request where it carries a deadline, steering toward the cheapest valuation they'll accept, and following up until PMI is confirmed removed in writing.