CAM rent refers to the Common Area Maintenance component of a commercial lease payment, charged in addition to base rent. Tenants pay their pro-rata share of costs to maintain shared building areas: parking lots, lobbies, hallways, landscaping, and building systems. CAM rent varies each year based on actual landlord expenses and is reconciled against monthly estimates at year-end.
CAM rent is calculated as: (tenant rentable square footage ÷ total leasable building area) × total annual CAM expenses. Most leases require monthly estimated payments based on prior-year actuals, with an annual reconciliation statement settling any difference. The CAM expense pool can include property management fees (typically capped at 5–15% of expenses), janitorial services, landscaping, parking lot maintenance, common utilities, HVAC maintenance, insurance, and capital expenditure amortization, all subject to the permitted expenses and exclusions defined in the lease.
A landlord inflates CAM rent by including non-CAM costs in the reconciliation: building improvements that benefit only the landlord, above-market management fees charged at 20% of gross CAM costs instead of the lease-permitted 5%, and HVAC system replacement billed in full rather than amortized over its 15-year useful life. One tenant with a 3,000 sq ft suite faced $8,400 in unexpected CAM rent increases after the landlord reclassified capital work as routine maintenance.
Request an itemized CAM reconciliation statement every year and compare each line item against your lease's exclusions section. Many leases exclude capital expenditures, above-market management fees, and costs attributable to vacant space. CAMAudit runs each line item against your specific lease language to flag overcharges automatically.
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Find My OverchargesThis page provides general educational information. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the most current law in your state. Consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.
