Increasing Profits With Lease Audits

• Overview
• Credits

If a tenant is overcharged $1 million but does not know about it, does it matter? Tenants, landlords and their respective attorneys and brokers spend considerable time negotiating the operating expense, tax and additional rent provisions of commercial leases. If so much time and effort is expended before the lease commences, why do most tenants find they have been incorrectly charged for these costs? When the parties have negotiated for one result but obtain a different one, tenants will look to the audit rights in their lease, often without understanding how those rights are applied or enforced or whether their lease protects them from the error they perceive to have occurred.

This reference set helps tenants, landlords and their attorneys, and brokers better understand how first to determine whether, and to what extent, the tenant has an ability to audit a landlord’s charges, and how the lease, legal precedent or their practice may have impacted those rights. These reference materials will cover the audit process, including expectations of the landlord and tenant parties, impact of lease provisions on the conduct of the audit itself and explores common questions related to liability for repaying overcharges when a building has sold or been transferred. Examples of common issues uncovered in audits, along with practice tips on how to negotiate the best operating expense and property tax provisions – or at least avoid the worst ones – will be included, as will a discussion of factors impacting settlement negotiations. The reference set will help you understand whether that $1 million “tree” mattered.

Authors

Marc A. Maiona, CyberLease, LLC

Self Study Credit - CD & Reference Manual

Sponsored by Lorman Education

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