The term, lease audit, refers to auditing of a lease abstract in the light of the original lease documents. Lease audits are usually required if your lease abstracts are older and your leases have been amended or renewed since the original lease was abstracted. If the leases were amended or any addendums were made to them at a later date, you would want to ensure that the lease abstracts reflect the most recent information, which won’t be the case if the lease abstraction was done before the amendment/addendum was executed.
If you already have lease abstracts, it is time to take a good look at them and find out where you really stand in terms of their utility. Are your lease abstracts really serving their intended purpose? A lease audit can help you determine this and also identify the data lacunae and inaccuracies.
You could also commission lease audits if you are not satisfied with the quality of your existing lease abstracts. For example, if you notice that your lease administrators are consistently having a tough time staying on top of critical dates, payments, notices, etc, and are scrambling for data in the last minute, there could be more to the problem than what meets the eye. If such misses are frequent, it could be indicating a problem at the very core of your lease database–the lease abstracts. Either your lease abstracts are inaccurate, meaning they don’t have the right information, or they may be incomplete in the sense that they may have not captured lease data that is critical to effective administration of the leases in your portfolio. A lease audit will help you figure out the root cause of the problem and fix it once and for all.
Another good time to have your lease abstracts audited is when moving your leases and lease abstracts from one lease administration software to another, or even if you are making the big switch from spreadsheets to a more robust lease administration platform. As you invest in quality lease administration software with a view to streamline your lease management process, you don’t want to start off with outdated or inaccurate data. A lease audit ensures the information you move to your new lease administration system is accurate and useful.
However, lease audits are time consuming and this process not only requires a keen eye for detail but also a lot of patience and an in-depth understanding of lease accounting and lease language. The whole process of lease auditing is time-intensive and your existing resources may be too busy to invest their undivided attention into the audit. Partnering with a trusted lease abstraction service provider ensures your lease abstracts are 100% accurate, comprehensive and complete with no missing data. Getting an experienced and trusted lease administration services provider to audit your leases can also help by bringing to light any instances where critical lease data may have been missed out. A lease administration services vendor with enough expertise and perspective into the lease abstraction process will also be able to identify any shortcomings in your original lease abstract template. They can help you make changes to your lease abstract template so it is more comprehensive and captures the lease information that matters to you, going forward.
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.