Lease audit and compliance
A lease can drift from its terms without anyone noticing. A review compares what the lease says with what was billed. Fairview Audit connects you with a partner firm that carries out that comparison. Fairview does not review leases itself.
What a lease review looks at
Most commercial leases run for years and pass through several hands. Property managers change and staff who negotiated the terms move on. Over that time, the charges you pay can stop matching the document you signed. Landlords usually bill estimates during the year and reconcile them to actual costs afterward, so pass-through charges are a common place to look.
A partner firm typically reads the lease and compares its economic terms with the amounts actually billed. Areas that often get attention include:
- Rent, escalations and base year terms.
- Operating expense and tax pass-throughs.
- Common area charges and how they are allocated.
- Rights to renew, expand, sublet or end the lease early.
- Obligations that fall on the landlord, such as repairs or credits.
Related work may include analysis of lease terms, a review of a lease before the commencement date, support with negotiating a new lease, help with early termination or buy-out, and lease abstracting. Abstracting means summarizing the key dates and terms in one place. Offerings vary. [CONFIRM: a partner firm supplies and approves this statement]
What you provide
Your partner firm will tell you exactly what it needs. Expect requests along these lines:
- The lease, with every amendment, schedule and side letter.
- Estoppel certificates, where they apply. A tenant uses one to confirm the current status of its lease.
- Landlord correspondence about additional charges.
- A payment history for the lease, ideally in electronic form.
- Selected invoices or statements with supporting data.
- A list of issues you have already spotted.
- Contact details for your team and for the landlord or property manager.
You stay involved throughout. Your team knows the property and its history.
What happens after you submit a request
You submit a request through the form that fits your business. A partner firm then contacts you directly. You talk through the scope and the terms of the engagement, share your documents, and the firm reports its findings to you.
If the review finds charges that do not match the lease, the next step is agreeing how to approach the landlord. The firm and your team decide that together. Any fees are set between you and the partner firm under the firm's own terms. Some partner firms work on a contingency basis.
Who this suits
A lease review tends to fit businesses with one or more commercial leases where the charges are complex or have not been checked in some time. Common triggers include:
- A building that recently changed owners or property managers.
- Rising occupancy costs with no clear explanation.
- A lease that has never been reviewed against its billing.
- A large portfolio of sites with different lease forms.
- A lease approaching renewal, where you want facts before you negotiate.
Retail tenants and property owners face their own versions. See lease audit and compliance for retail and lease audit and compliance for real estate and property.
How Fairview matches you
Fairview offers three request paths: larger business, smaller business, and not sure or another need. Each leads to its own form. The right firm depends on the size of your business, and there is no fixed cut-off between the two types of firm. Requests go to the matched partner. If you are not sure, Fairview reviews your request and matches it by hand.
An independent partner firm that specializes in lease audit and compliance handles this work. Fairview Audit makes the match. We do not perform the review ourselves.Who does the work
Frequently asked questions
Does Fairview review my lease?
No. Fairview connects you with a partner firm. The firm does the review, and your engagement is with the firm.
Do I need to tell my landlord before a review starts?
That depends on your lease. Your partner firm will explain when and how the landlord is approached. Keep your own legal adviser informed if the lease has notice or audit provisions. [VERIFY: whether the lease contains audit or notice clauses]
Can a review cover leases I signed years ago?
Often yes, if you can supply the lease and the payment history. Ask the firm how far back it can look.
What if I only want help before signing a new lease?
Say so on your request. Some partner firms analyse a lease before it takes effect or support negotiation.
Is a review guaranteed to find something?
No. A review reports what the documents show. Fairview makes no promise about results.
Related pages
- Supplier contract compliance covers contracts with vendors.
- Accounting and valuation support includes baseline assessment of occupancy costs.
- How it works walks through a request step by step.
- All services lists every cost category.
Tell us what you need reviewed. We match you by hand with an independent partner firm. You keep your existing vendors.Find out what you are overpaying.