Commercial Lease - Total CAM Expense

[emsuarez]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I leased space in a strip shopping center for my business, and began paying rent in October 2007. At the end of June 2008, I received a bill from the landlord telling me I owed an extra $2700 for "CAM Recoveries" and associated sales tax. According to my lease, they need to send me a statement showing the total CAM expense for the shopping center and my proportionate share. I called and asked for the statement, which they mailed me. The amount they quoted for "Total CAM Expense" seemed a little high, so I checked with some of my neighboring tenants. What I found, is that several of them had received the same statement, except that the "Total CAM Expense" quoted was different (so far, I have seen 3 different versions of the Total CAM Expense). My question is: Shouldn't Total CAM Expense be the same for everyone in the same shopping center? The proportionate share owed by each tenant I know is related to the square footage, but the Total CAM shouldn't change, right?

I have requested a detailed accounting of the CAM expenses for my review and am waiting for a response, but wanted to get an opinion on whether the landlord is doing something illegal.

I appreciate any input/feedback on this situation.

Thank you!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Florida

I leased space in a strip shopping center for my business, and began paying rent in October 2007. At the end of June 2008, I received a bill from the landlord telling me I owed an extra $2700 for "CAM Recoveries" and associated sales tax. According to my lease, they need to send me a statement showing the total CAM expense for the shopping center and my proportionate share. I called and asked for the statement, which they mailed me. The amount they quoted for "Total CAM Expense" seemed a little high, so I checked with some of my neighboring tenants. What I found, is that several of them had received the same statement, except that the "Total CAM Expense" quoted was different (so far, I have seen 3 different versions of the Total CAM Expense). My question is: Shouldn't Total CAM Expense be the same for everyone in the same shopping center?


**A: you would think so but there have been cases where the tenant leases were different depending upon when the lease were signed and what the CAM clauses in the various leases dictated. In some cases, certain older tenants were not charged some CAM fees but newer tenants were, thus resulting in "total" CAM fees not being the same.
If all tenants were charged the exact same CAM expenses, then the answer would be yes in that the total CAM charge would be constant and assessed proportionately by SF % as spelled out in the lease.

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The proportionate share owed by each tenant I know is related to the square footage, but the Total CAM shouldn't change, right?

I have requested a detailed accounting of the CAM expenses for my review and am waiting for a response, but wanted to get an opinion on whether the landlord is doing something illegal.

I appreciate any input/feedback on this situation.

Thank you!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

**A: you need to get the total breakdown of expenses upon which theh CAM is charged and review your lease.