It lives in the GSE servicing guides — Fannie Mae B-8.1-04 and Freddie Mac's equivalent — not in the HPA itself, so most "how to remove PMI" articles skip it or bury it. Servicers have no incentive to volunteer it: your PMI costs them nothing and cancelling it earns them nothing. The rule is real, binding on servicers of GSE-owned loans (most conventional loans), and it's the mechanism that converts the 2020–2024 price run into cancelled premiums.
Bought in mid-2021: $400,000 price, 5% down, $380,000 loan at 3.1%. Today the balance is about $346,000 — 86% of original value, so the standard tests say "keep paying." But the home now values at $480,000: $346,000 ÷ $480,000 = 72% LTV, under the 75% bar for a 5-year-old loan. That homeowner can cancel now — at $212/month, waiting for the scheduled path would burn roughly $18,000 more in premiums.
Confirm your numbers (our calculator runs the exact seasoning-adjusted test with a live value estimate). Send a written request that specifically asks for current-value cancellation and asks the servicer to state its valuation process and fee — wording matters, because default handling routes you to the original-value math. Pay for the valuation, prepare the property (see the appraisal guide), and expect a written determination within 30 days of the valuation.