Question 1

What are the most common types of CAM billing disputes?

Accepted Answer

The most common CAM billing disputes involve: (1) excluded expenses being included in the recoverable pool — capital expenditures, management fee overages, or landlord-specific costs; (2) gross-up calculation errors — applying gross-up to fixed expenses or using the wrong occupancy figure; (3) CAM cap failures — not applying or mis-calculating cumulative caps; (4) pro-rata denominator errors — using a different denominator than the lease specifies; (5) base year expense misstatements — using estimated rather than actual base year figures.

Question 2

How do I dispute CAM charges as a tenant?

Accepted Answer

To dispute CAM charges: (1) review your lease's audit rights clause for the deadline — commonly 12–24 months after the reconciliation statement is delivered; (2) send a written audit request before the deadline via certified mail to the notice address in the lease; (3) request the full GL detail, invoices, gross-up workpaper, cap calculation, and pro-rata share documentation; (4) identify specific line-item discrepancies with lease provision references; (5) send a formal dispute letter itemizing each overcharge and the applicable lease section. Never rely on verbal communications — everything must be in writing.

Question 3

What percentage of CAM reconciliations contain errors?

Accepted Answer

Studies of commercial lease audits consistently find that 60–80% of audited CAM reconciliations contain overcharges. Average overbilling ranges from $0.50 to $3.00 per RSF per year. For a tenant in 20,000 SF, that represents $10,000–$60,000 per year in potential overbilling. The most frequent errors are gross-up miscalculations, excluded expenses included in the pool, and CAM cap failures.

Question 4

How long do tenants have to audit CAM charges?

Accepted Answer

Most commercial leases grant tenants an audit window of 12–36 months from the date the annual reconciliation statement is delivered. This deadline is typically a hard cutoff — missing it permanently waives the right to challenge that year's statement, regardless of how significant the overcharges may be. Some states have statutory audit rights that apply even if the lease is silent, but these vary by jurisdiction. Always track the delivery date of every reconciliation statement and set a calendar reminder for the audit deadline.

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