Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
Definition of "Private mortgage insurance (PMI)"
The concept behind a Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is pretty simple: it exists to make sure the lender doesn’t lose its money.
What it does is “buy” the possible defaults of a borrower to a lender. Meaning: if the borrower doesn’t pay the premium, the Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) enters in action and pays it on his/her behalf.
The PMI cost is usually included in the monthly mortgage payment in addition to the principal, homeowner’s insurance, property tax and interest, and just like them, it is a separate thing; it doesn’t build equity to your home.
Why do it?
Well, most of the time you don’t have an option; it is a requirement from the Lender that you get Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) in order to be able to borrow the money. However, it truly can be good for both parties: the lender doesn’t lose money and the borrower can get a house even if he doesn’t have the whole 20% of the home’s value to use as down payment, since lenders sometimes waive the need of it because of the safety provided by the Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI).
Real estate Tips:
One of the greatest insurances in the world is knowledge! Devour our Real Estate Terms and use our Real Estate Agent Directory to contact a local real estate agent when you're ready to go into the market for/with your house!
Popular Insurance Terms
Means of funding permitted under the employee retirement income security act of 1974 (ERISA). The administrator of a pension plan can comply with required minimum funding standards by ...
Search, attraction, interview, and employment of insurance agents. This is a primary function of the general agent (GA) or agency manager. ...
Amount in a cash value life insurance policy that a policy owner will receive upon surrender of the policy, minus any outstanding loan and accrued interest. A table in the policy shows the ...
Coverage providing funds for maintenance of a business as closely to normal as possible in the event of a loss of a key person, owner, or partner. ...
Excess funds above the amount required to establish legal reserves for the policies in force. These excess funds are generated as the result of mortality savings, excess interest earned on ...
Same as term Unallocated Funding Instrument: pension funding agreement under which funds paid into a retirement plan are not currently allocated to purchase retirement benefits. The funds ...
Costs associated with the selling of a new insurance policy to a policyholder. The costs include the acquisition commission as a percentage of the first year's premium, underwriting ...
Insurance policy in force only after the insurance company approves the application. Today, most companies use the insurability conditional premium receipt. ...
Nonforfeiture option that uses the cash value of an ordinary life policy as a single premium to purchase term life insurance in the amount of the original policy. The length of the term ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.