Getting rid of pmi

I refied a few years back. The appraisal came in low and our ltv was around 88%. Weve been paying pmi ever since

I was told by my mortgage broker that when we hit 78% ltv pmi would automatically drop.

I've been paying an extra few hundred on each payment to speed up that process. Well we're now at 78% ltv, and I inquired about getting it removed.

The banks response was,

"Automatic lender termination date with respect to your loan disclosed on your loan document is 12/01/2019.  This is when the 78% ltv is “scheduled “ based on amortization at time of funding.

Anytime, prior to this timeframe, an appraisal is required to verify value.  "

Isn't this some crap. First, an appraisal is $600 Second, the last two appraisals I've had were absurdly wrong.

Is this legal? I've read that it must drop off at 78% and was told by their broker that if I paid it down to 78% pmi would automatically drop off.

It's not a huge number $60 a month pmi but the sucker is that I've been paying extra every month to get to 78% based off their advice.