 TITLE: Do I Need Mortgage Insurance? CONTENT: Do FHA Mortgage Loans Require Insurance?\n----------------------------------------\nFHA loans may require lower down payments (3.5%) and have less strict credit requirements than conventional mortgages. However, FHA mortgage loans may require both an upfront mortgage insurance premium (UFMIP) and an annual MIP, which you can pay monthly.\nUnlike with PMI, you can't request to cancel your FHA loan's MIP after you reach 20% equity, and it won't be automatically removed once you reach 22% equity. In fact, if your down payment is less than 10%, the PMI will remain for the lifetime of the loan.\nIf you put down at least 10% on your FHA loan, the MIP will be removed after 11 years. Alternatively, you could refinance your mortgage once you've established 20% equity to get a new mortgage that doesn't require mortgage insurance. END