Lease audit and compliance for retail
A retailer with several stores signs several leases, often on different forms with different clauses. Rent is only one part of what the landlord bills. This page explains how a lease audit and compliance review applies to a retail business and what a partner firm would examine.
Why leases matter for retailers
Store leases tend to carry charges that move with the property or with your sales. Percentage rent, shared area costs, tax and insurance recoveries and marketing fund contributions can each change from year to year. The landlord prepares the figures. You usually pay them under a short deadline to dispute.
A retailer also has to keep track of lease dates. Rent commencement, renewal options, early termination rights and holdover terms all have deadlines. Across a portfolio of stores, one missed date can mean a rent increase nobody planned for.
What a review typically examines
A partner firm reads each lease and compares it with what the landlord billed. Retail leases raise a particular set of questions.
- Percentage rent and gross sales. How the lease defines gross sales, which items it excludes, and whether the landlord's calculation follows the definition. Also, where the breakpoint sits, whether natural or fixed, and whether percentage rent was charged only above it.
- Common area maintenance. Whether the landlord's yearly reconciliation of estimated and actual costs follows the lease, including any cap on increases, any excluded categories and the way your share is calculated.
- Co-tenancy terms. Whether your lease gives rent relief or a termination right if an anchor tenant leaves, and whether you received what it grants.
- Tenant allowances and free rent. Whether the allowance and rent abatement in the lease were actually applied.
- Marketing and promotion fund charges. Whether the charge matches the lease.
- Sales reporting. Leases usually require you to report gross sales, so a review also checks what you must keep and report.
Warning: Many leases set a window for disputing landlord statements. Do not assume you can raise an old charge. Check the lease or ask the partner firm.
What to have ready
- Each store lease with amendments, side letters and commencement letters.
- Landlord statements for CAM, tax, insurance and percentage rent.
- Your own monthly sales reports for stores with percentage rent.
- A rent payment history by store.
- Correspondence about charges you questioned.
- A lease calendar if you keep one, showing options and deadlines.
- Contacts for real estate, finance and store operations.
What happens after you submit a request
A partner firm contacts you after you submit a request. You provide the leases and billing data. The firm presents its findings, and you decide with it how to approach each landlord. Retailers often keep long relationships with landlords, so the approach matters. Fees are set between you and the firm.
How matching works
Fairview connects you with a partner firm and does none of the review itself. Size decides which type of firm fits, and Fairview matches each request by hand rather than by a fixed cut-off. Use the larger business form, the smaller business form or the other form if you are unsure.
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 a review cover leases we are about to sign?
Pre-lease analysis is a separate service some firms offer. Ask when you submit your request. [CONFIRM: partner industry detail]
Do we need to review every store?
Not necessarily. You and the firm agree which leases to include.
Will the landlord be told?
The firm agrees the approach with you first. You stay involved in any contact with a landlord.
Related pages
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.