Don’t overcomplicate the lease language
August 13, 2017
Every few weeks, someone in the office will let out a scream of frustration. The frustration comes from reading lease language that is so involved, but could have been accomplished with incredibly simple lease language.
For example, it is fairly common to see Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases applied to rents, or used as caps for certain reimbursable expenses in a lease. Applying a CPI increase is fairly simple and straightforward, but there are hundreds of variations of the CPI – for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U); for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers and Wage Earners (CPI-W); either one of the using a 1982-84=100 base or a 1967=100 base, or even a 1957=100 base; any one of those for a specific city; any one of those for specific items, or excluding specific items. Along with those increases, it is common to have a negotiated cap on the increase – say 3%. Often, that cap is negotiated to be non-cumulative rather than cumulative. Sometimes there is language that states if the increase is greater than the cap in any given year, the amount over the cap can be carried forward to a future year when the increase is less than the cap. Sometimes, there are minimum increases applied in addition to the cap.
So, if you find yourself writing or negotiating a lease clause where
「the tenant pays a prorate share of CAM based upon the leased area of the shopping center, calculated on a weighted average basis, excluding major tenants greater than 25,000 sf and any tenant above or below ground level, where controllable costs are capped by 5% per year with any excess being carried forward to a future year, and where the first year CAM costs (including both controllable and uncontrollable costs) are capped at $2.00/sf, with the overall cap being increased by the CPI-W, 82-84=100 for New York, with a maximum increase of 3.5% and a minimum increase of 2.5%, also giving the tenant the right to audit CAM」
Do yourself (and your lease administration, lease accounting, asset management, billings and collections staff) a favor, and just simplify it to:
Tenant shall pay $2.00/sf for CAM, increased by 3% each 1/1 starting 1/1/18.
Think about what you are really trying to accomplish, and keep it as simple as possible.