Recast vs. Refinance vs. Pay It Down
Enter your loan once and see all four outcomes side by side — payment, remaining term and total remaining interest — computed against your servicer’s published recast rules and today’s refinance rate.
Step 1 — Eligibility
What kind of loan is it?
FHA, VA and USDA loans cannot be recast.
Here is what you can do instead — pay the balance down and keep your payment, which shortens the term; or refinance, which replaces the note entirely. Both are computed below once you pick a conventional loan, and both are explained on the eligibility page.
Step 2 — Your loan
Results update as you type. Nothing is sent anywhere. JavaScript is off — the figures below are the built-in worked example.Your four options
The outlined card is the lowest total remaining interest.Recasting almost never saves you interest.
It lowers your payment by stretching a smaller balance over the same remaining term. Paying the same lump sum without recasting keeps your payment where it is and pays the loan off years earlier — usually for far less total interest. Recasting buys monthly cash flow. That can be exactly what you need. It is not a savings strategy.
For your numbers, recasting costs $109,736 more in total interest than paying down without recasting, and lowers your payment by $332.46 a month.
This lump sum also crosses 80% LTV
The balance moves from 91% to 79% of the home value you entered, crossing the 80% threshold where PMI can be cancelled. Ask the servicer in writing; it is not automatic. The figure shown is the PMI you entered — this site does not estimate it.
Principal & interest is not your bill
Escrow is shown separately and is never blended into the payment figures above.
| P&I after recast | $2,195.81 |
| Escrow | $480.00 |
| Total monthly | $2,675.81 |
The formulas, in the open
A curtailment is a lump-sum payment applied to principal. Re-amortization is recalculating the payment so the smaller balance still retires on the original maturity date. A recast does both. The maturity date does not move.
i = r / 12 n = payments remaining B1 = B0 - C recast payment P1 = B1·i / (1 - (1+i)^-n) identity P1 = P0 · (B1 / B0) no-recast term n' = -ln(1 - B1·i / P0) / ln(1+i) interest, recast P1·n - B1 interest, no recast P0·n' - B1 fee break-even fee / (P0 - P1)
The identity is exact, not an approximation: payment is linear in balance when the rate and remaining term are fixed. Here, a 13.1% cut in balance is exactly a 13.1% cut in payment.
The recast fee is never capitalized. It is paid separately and never added to the balance. The full methodology, with the guards →
Precomputed scenarios
Rendered into the HTML at build time by the same functions the browser runs, so the page is substantive with scripts disabled.
Worked example — built into the page
$400k at 6.5%, 4 years in, $50k lump
Balance before the curtailment is $380,238 with 312 payments left. Principal and interest today is $2,528.27.
| Option | Payment | Remaining term | Remaining interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do nothing | $2,528.27 | 312 months | $408,583 |
| Recast | $2,195.81 | 312 months | $354,855 |
| Lump sum, no recast | $2,528.27 | 227.6 months — 84 months earlier | $245,120 |
| Refinance at 6.5% / 30 yr, $6,000 rolled in | $2,125.25 | 360 months | $428,853 |
Recasting costs roughly $109,736 more in total interest than paying the same lump sum and keeping the payment. It buys $332.46 a month in cash flow.
Questions people actually ask
Does recasting change my interest rate?
No. The rate on the note is untouched, and so is the maturity date. Only the payment moves.
Is the recast fee added to my balance?
No. It is paid separately and is never capitalized, so it does not earn interest against you. This calculator never subtracts it from the balance.
Will my total bill drop by the amount shown?
Only the principal-and-interest portion drops. Escrow for taxes and insurance is billed separately and can still rise, which is why the two are never blended here.
Can I recast an FHA, VA or USDA loan?
No. Government-backed loans are not eligible. Paying down principal without recasting, or refinancing, are the available routes.
How long does a recast take?
Across the servicers that publish a figure, 45 to 90 days is normal, and several require the loan to have been with them for 90 days first.
Do I need an appraisal or a credit check?
Generally no — that is the practical difference against refinancing. Chase markets both explicitly.
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