Security

When was the last time you challenged a landlord or property manager about the operating expenses or common area maintenance (CAM) charges? Probably not recently or never, right?

To clarify, operating costs are the day-to-day management and maintenance expenses charged to the tenant; examples include asphalt repairs, snow removal, property insurance, and so on. Franchise tenants pay a proportionate share of these costs based on the space they occupy. Therefore, if a franchise tenant occupies 12 percent of a building, he or she will pay for 12 percent of the operating costs. Paying by this said ratio is the industry standard but, of course, there are deviations for special circumstances like free-standing buildings and so on.

Nonetheless, every lease generally or specifically outlines what can or cannot be charged back to the tenants … but it's up to the tenants to be watchdogs...