Is your lease administration process consistent? Tenants often so caught up in their business that lease administration tends to take a back seat. Usually, it is because of one or more of the following reasons: 

The high cost of hiring, training, and retaining lease administration resources

Lease administration resources are considerably expensive. Add to that the training and retaining costs that accumulate over time, the lease administration process in itself becomes costly. 

The high rate of attrition affecting lease portfolio management and timely updates

The lease administration industry is characterized by a high rate of attrition, which adversely affects lease portfolio management. Organizations fall behind on timely updates and lease audits due to a lack of resources. 

However, ignoring on-going lease administration and timely lease audits can result in substantial financial losses due to missed opportunities. For example, you fail to identify and rectify erroneous rent calculations or CAM charges, which then get embedded in your lease, term after term. 

Tenants without a solid lease administration and audit process also end up underutilizing their assets/rights under the lease due to lack of information. This is often a result of decentralized, fragmented, and inaccurate lease data.

On-going lease administration and regular lease audits help ensure that you, as a tenant don’t miss any critical deadlines or overlook any opportunities such as the right to renew or expand. With detailed reports alerting you to critical dates, action items, and financial discrepancies such as incorrect billing or overcharges across various locations, you will be able to drive strategic business decisions accurately and on time, while saving substantial amounts of money. 

Rebolease.com, powered by RE BackOffice, Inc., is a premier provider of lease abstraction, administration, 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 strategic advantage. All client projects are performed in-house. Please contact us today to learn more.

Leasing is a key financial decision, so it is fair to assume that tenants analyze the viability of the decision to enter into a lease, thoroughly. However, once the lease is signed and the rented premises are occupied and operational, many tenants are taken by surprise as they find their rental costs ending up being significantly more than what was expected. This blog post discusses the possible reasons for such discrepancies. 

One of the first things to check is if your base rent calculations are accurate. If there are errors in your base rent calculations, they can get embedded in your rent roll, pushing your rent higher year-after-year, inaccurately. Some areas to check in this regard are-

Square footage calculations

Leased space or square footage plays an important role because it forms the base for most of the charges levied upon the tenant. Even a few square feet here and there can make a huge difference when base rent, CAM charges, and other operating expenses are calculated on a per-square-foot basis. Learn more in this blog post. 

CPI calculations

If your rent rises are linked to the CPI, then you need to ensure the CPI calculations made for your lease are accurate. You need to be aware of the CPI adjustments and apply them correctly to your rent roll. 

Rent commencement date, pro-rata rent, and term calculations

Another area to scrutinize is the rent commencement date. A lot of hinges upon your rent commencement date, including calculations related to your lease tenure. If your rent commencement dates are incorrect, or the terms and pro-rated rent are calculated wrong, you may be paying more than what you actually owe. 

You can avoid unpleasant surprises related to your rent amounts by deploying the services of an experienced lease administration firm that helps you stay on top of your lease portfolio management. Regular lease audits and lease administration services go a long way in identifying errors in your rent roll and helping you save significantly on rent.  

RE BackOffice is a strategic partner providing scalable, affordable and accurate lease abstraction, comprehensive lease administration and accounting services to optimize your lease portfolio and related processes. Please contact us today to learn more. 

With organizations looking to cut additional costs and curtail seemingly unwanted operating expenses, lease audit is gaining a lot of popularity as a tool that helps them accomplish this goal from the real estate perspective. In our blog this week we discuss why you should entrust the task of auditing your lease expenses to experts.

Lease audits involve a thorough perusal of the invoices raised by your Landlord in light of your lease agreement to determine if you actually owe those charges and if yes, then to ensure the amount you are being invoiced for is accurate. You will be essentially challenging your Landlord based on the information from the lease audit. Hence it is important that your lease audit is thorough and accurate. Any claims made in the lease audit also needs to be backed up with strong evidence supporting the claim. Without that, even legitimate claims may not be honored by your Landlord. 

Secondly, when you reach out to your Landlord with the findings of your lease audit, you need to be tactful and also be able to negotiate effectively. The Landlord also needs to be able to trust your lease audit firm in the sense that they will keep any information regarding a settlement confidential. Landlords may hesitate to agree with lease audit findings if they fear that the audit firm may then reach out to other tenants of the Landlord in the premises offering a lease audit service. Outsourcing your lease audits to a reputed and trusted vendor who offers lease audit services will go a long way in ensuring your lease audits and consequent negotiations happen smoothly. 

A poorly done lease audit can cost you your relationship with your Landlord. A trusted lease audit firm can help maintain your relationship with your Landlord better. Using the services of a professional lease auditor enhances your chances of getting your claims honored.

RE BackOffice is a strategic partner providing scalable, affordable and accurate lease abstraction, end-to-end lease administration, lease audit and accounting services to optimize your lease portfolio and related processes. Please contact us today to learn more. 

Rent rolls are one of the most important aspects of your lease. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say the rent roll is a key financial data point of your lease and forms the crux of your lease contract. But, how well do you know your rent roll? Understanding your rent structure clearly is very important as it can help you negotiate renewals better, save significant amount of money by identifying inaccuracies in rent calculations and also help you drive better real estate-related business decisions. Our blog this week discusses the key aspects of the rent roll that you should be aware of. 

What is your rent structure?

All tenants know their rent structures, no doubt, but what about the details? You should be aware of escalation clauses in your lease. What is your rent escalation tied to? Is it a direct, simple escalation by a predetermined amount or percentage, is it pegged to an economic indicator like the CPI, or is it based on your revenue, such as a percentage of your sales (most common in retail leases)? Understanding the rent escalation clause helps you analyze the feasibility of your lease.

What constitutes your Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges?

If your lease is a net lease, then CAM charges will definitely be a core component of your rent roll. The thing about CAM charges is that it includes multiple headers and complicated calculations, which leave room for errors and even interpretation. You need to be aware of the various components of your CAM charges and how they are computed for you as per your lease. For example, what happens if you moved into a fairly empty building that’s only gradually filling up? How is the CAM divided among the existing tenants including you, until the time there’s 100% occupancy? What will be the repercussions on your CAM charges as new tenants are signed up.

When it comes to rent-roll calculations, the onus is always on the tenant to identify errors, if any, and report them to the landlord. So, it is essential that as a tenant, you pay keen attention to the core rent roll components such as rent escalation calculations and CAM charges allocation. Overlooking any errors in these calculations will cause them to become a part of the base calculations for the next lease year and as a tenant, this can cost you a lot. Plus, most leases place a timeframe within which such discrepancies should be reported to the landlord. Failing to do so on time may be construed as acceptance by the tenant to make the payments. 

You can avoid such scenarios by having clear, concise and accurate abstracts of your leases that simplify complex lease terms for you without diluting their essence. Solid lease abstracts can help you understand your rent roll and related components clearly. Two other very important elements in this regard are regular lease audits and a thorough lease administration process that will help you identify the gaps and act at the right time. 

RE BackOffice is a strategic partner providing scalable, affordable and accurate lease abstraction, end-to-end lease administration, lease audit and accounting services to optimize your lease portfolio and related processes. Please contact us today to learn more.

Lease abstracts involve summarizing the key financial and non-financial information contained in your leases to ensure:

• You have quick access to critical information
• You can make the right business decisions regarding the property in question
• You have a clear understanding of even the most complex of lease terms

Generally, when we use the term, key lease data, the first thing that comes to mind is Rent. A lot of importance is attached to the rent roll and every lease abstractor focuses on getting that right. Tenants and landlords alike recognize the importance of getting the rent roll and its various elements summarized accurately. But there are other financial fields that are equally important and shouldn’t be taken lightly either. We are referring to options related to termination, renewal, expansion and the right of first refusal. These elements are extremely important from the tenant’s perspective because they can help you get a good deal on your existing lease. Here’s how it works-

• Termination options: These clauses deal with the choices the landlord and tenant have with respect to ending the lease contract at any time. 
• Renewal options: These clauses deal with the choices the tenant has to renew the lease with the landlord upon completion of the lease term.
• Expansion or right to first refusal options often deal with the tenant’s right to being asked first in the event there’s a vacancy in the premises. 

It is extremely important that, as a tenant,  you are aware of these options in order to make timely strategic decisions for your business. 

For example, if you end up finding a cheaper or a better location for your business, you may want to consider terminating your lease mid-term, even if it means paying penalties, because, in the long run, that may work out to be more profitable. 

On the other hand, if your property is in a great location and you got a great deal on your rent increase terms, you may want to renew your lease after it finishes its initial term. In such a case, you certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on a chance to renew your lease just because you missed the notice period by 2 days! 

Another example, let’s say the premises adjacent to yours is just what you need as your business grows, it will make sense for you to jump on the opportunity the moment it becomes vacant. 

In order to do any of these things, there are various formalities involved such as notifying your landlord of your intention to terminate or renew within the stipulated time frame, a formal, written, expression of interest, etc., 

So, when we speak of getting the key terms right in your lease abstract, it is much more than the basic rent roll. All key dates must be identified at the time of lease abstraction and as a part of your lease administration process, those dates should be tracked, along with the necessary action items related to them so you can make the most of your leases. 

RE BackOffice is a strategic partner providing end-to-end lease administration and accounting services, including lease audits. We offer scalable, affordable and accurate lease accounting and administration services to optimize your lease portfolio and related processes. Please contact us today to learn more.