Home and condo insurance in Hollywood, a city of 1960s houses on a 2024 flood map.

Hollywood is a house city that also has a beach

The 2020–2024 Census estimates count about 72,800 housing units in Hollywood. About 43% are detached houses. Buildings of 50 or more units are about 19%, and buildings of 10 or more are about 38%. That is the reverse of the condo coast just south of here. In Hallandale Beach, most units are in large buildings and detached houses are a small share. In Hollywood the single-family house is the main policy, and the tower is the exception that still needs its own form.

The median year built is 1969. The 1960s are the largest decade, about a quarter of the stock, followed by the 1950s and the 1970s. More than half the units were built before 1970, and about three in four before 1980. Only about 10% date from 2000 or later. Of the occupied homes, about 59% are owner-occupied. About 6,900 units, roughly 10% of the stock, were vacant for seasonal or occasional use. A 1960s house on a canal and a winter condo on the barrier island are both Hollywood, and they are not the same insurance form.

Joseph Young’s 1920s plan put man-made lakes along both sides of Hollywood Boulevard, with an end of each lake opening toward the Intracoastal. The city still sits between the Atlantic, those lakes, a grid of canals, and the mangrove shore at West Lake. The beach is the picture. The flood problem is older and wider than the picture.

More than 11,000 properties changed flood zones in 2024

FEMA’s revised Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Broward County became effective on July 31, 2024. They replaced the maps dated August 18, 2014. Hollywood’s community redevelopment agency reports two numbers from that switch. More than 11,000 properties in the city were brought into the Special Flood Hazard Area. Another 2,115 left the mandatory-purchase requirement. A lender uses the map in effect now. A zone letter on a 2023 declaration can be describing a map that is no longer the map. Being one of the 2,115 does not mean the lot cannot flood. The city still recommends flood coverage for properties that left the mandate.

None of that map work puts flood into a homeowners or condo policy. Flood, including storm surge from the beach and rising water from the lakes and canals, is excluded. An NFIP policy generally has a 30-day wait and caps of $250,000 on the building and $100,000 on contents. For new construction and for substantial improvement, which the city describes as work above 50% of the building’s value, the Florida Building Code requires the finished floor at the base flood elevation plus one foot in the Special Flood Hazard Area. That is a building rule. It is not a coverage grant. The city’s history already has a surge date: on September 18, 1926, a hurricane hit Hollywood with wind and floodwater and killed 37 people. Wilma in 2005 is the wind benchmark for this coast, not a substitute for a flood policy.

A 1969 roof, and the towers that are not the whole city

For houses, policies issued or renewed since July 1, 2022 cannot be refused only because the roof is under 15 years old. An older roof with an inspection showing at least five years of remaining life cannot be refused on age alone. With a median year of 1969, a lot of Hollywood roofs are past both of those conversations and need the inspection, not a guess. Hurricane deductibles are $500 or 2%, 5% or 10% of the dwelling limit, once per calendar year. New claim notice is generally one year from the date of loss, landfall for a hurricane, and 18 months for a supplemental claim. Broward is in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, and the Broward County Board of Rules and Appeals administers that code locally. A wind-mitigation inspection on form OIR-B1-1802 is what insurers use for opening protection, roof shape and roof-to-wall connections on a house or townhome. Insurers must give the credits the statute requires when the inspection supports them. Eligible houses may use My Safe Florida Home for an inspection and, if the program’s rules fit, a grant.

The other fifth of the stock, the units in buildings of 50 or more, is a condo conversation. A residential condo or co-op of three or more habitable stories needs a milestone inspection at 30 years, or at 25 if the local building official set the earlier age, and every 10 years after that, plus a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years. Buildings from the 1960s and 1970s are inside that schedule. The certificate of occupancy starts the clock. The result can be a special assessment. Loss-assessment coverage under s. 627.714, at least $2,000, is for assessments tied to a covered property loss, and sometimes the association deductible, depending on the form. It is not a fund for catch-up reserves. Section 718.111(11) still leaves the interior to the unit owner: finishes, fixtures, appliances, water heaters, cabinets and personal property. That is the HO-6. A wind-mitigation form is not how a high-rise unit is usually rated, and a unit in a tower is outside My Safe Florida Home. Send the assessment notice with the policy before treating a reserve bill as a covered loss.

M&K Agency is family-owned, with a team of 12 and more than 5,000 clients across Florida. Send us your policy and we’ll check your coverage. We will say whether the gap is the roof, the flood map or the condo form, and we will not call an assessment covered until the form says so.

More for this area

• Car insurance in Hollywood, FL
• Home and condo insurance in Broward County
• Guide: if someone gets hurt at your home (liability and umbrella)
• Florida hurricane deductible, explained

Ready for a second opinion on your coverage?

Leave your number and a licensed agent will call you back, within an hour during business hours.