Staying on top of your lease portfolio is critical but also challenging. This is true regardless of the size of your lease portfolio, but it is even more complex if your lease portfolio is large containing hundreds or thousands of leases spanning across different countries or when the leases drafted in different languages. Outsourcing your lease abstraction, lease administration and other lease support services to an experienced, trusted lease support services vendor is a great way to overcome these challenges.
Outsourcing your lease support services helps you-
- Save on costs that you would incur if you hired lease support service staff in-house, on your payroll. It helps you eliminate training, HR-related expenses and save on lease agreement interpretation and translation costs, as all of these are taken care of by the vendor.
- Stay on top of your lease portfolio as you will have access to your lease support services vendor’s team of lease administrators even if your in-house team struggles to meet tight deadlines, especially if it is a bigger project.
- Leverage the expertise and industry experience of your lease services vendor. They have more experience in handling multiple types of leases and tend to offer better accuracy, relevance, and compliance than in-house lease administrators who comparatively have lesser exposure.
While the benefits we discussed above look great on paper and do actually translate into reality, you need to make sure you pick the right lease support services vendor. From that perspective, here are a few things to consider when partnering with a lease support services vendor for your lease management needs.
Who are they?
The first question to ask before entrusting your leases to a lease support services vendor is, who they are. Are they a recognized, well-known, lease abstraction and administration services vendor?
Where are they based?
The next question pertains to their location. Where is your lease abstraction or administration vendor located? A lot of lease support service providers operate from off-shore locations. While that is okay, it is definitely a huge plus point for you if their office is located in the United States.
Do they do the work themselves?
This is a very important question. Before outsourcing your lease administration or lease abstraction requirements, make sure you confirm with your lease support services vendor that they are the ones actually performing the tasks. It is not uncommon for companies to undertake lease abstraction and administration projects and then outsource them further to a sub-vendor or even to freelance lease abstractors and administrators in a bid to cut costs. This is extremely dangerous as it puts you in a very vulnerable position as your leases travel all over the world sometimes–without your knowledge. And, if you are broker or a tenant rep managing your client’s lease portfolios, you risk legal action against you in the event something goes wrong.
Who are their clients?
Ask your lease support services vendor to furnish you with client testimonials and referrals. Make sure they are able to give you client names and contact information, so you can verify if the glowing client testimonials they provide are authentic.
How long have they been in business?
Make sure you don’t entrust your leases to a random fly-by-night start up that’s here today, gone tomorrow. Trusting such vendors with your critical lease data is not a good idea from the data security standpoint. Plus, you need a lease administration and abstraction vendor who can be a trusted partner and help you scale, as your lease support service needs grow or decline. While a newly found startup may be cheap, they usually do not have
- The resources to support your lease needs as you grow
- Stringent data security measures and may end exposing your critical lease data to risks of data theft and loss
- The expertise and experience needed to handle complex lease data
Leases are critical business documents that are also confidential and legally binding. You don’t want your leases getting into the wrong hands! Make sure you partner with a lease support service provider with years of industry presence and experience that is trusted by your peers.
Rebolease.com, powered by RE BackOffice, Inc., is a premier provider of lease abstraction, administration, audit and accounting services. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, we are a global boutique firm, providing high-quality services to top-tier clients across industry verticals, covering every type of lease and on any lease platform. We are proud to be a trusted partner, for 15+ years, to leading retailers, REITs, property owners/managers, and corporate accounts seeking a strategic advantage. All client projects are performed in-house.
