Inflated common area square footage directly increases your pro-rata share by shrinking the ratio of rentable space to total space. If the landlord overstates the common area, the load factor applied to your usable space generates a higher rentable square footage, which in turn increases your share of CAM expenses. Verifying common area measurements against actual building dimensions is one of the most impactful audit steps a tenant can take.
TL;DR
An inflated common area calculation affects every CAM charge for the life of your lease; correcting it produces compounding savings across all expense categories.
Who this is for
Tenants who suspect that the common area or load factor used in their lease or reconciliation does not match the actual building layout, or tenants who want to verify their pro-rata share calculation.
Who this is not for
Tenants in a single-tenant building where there is no shared common area, or tenants whose lease uses a fixed pro-rata percentage not derived from a square footage calculation.
Pro-Rata Share Error
CAMAudit recalculates your pro-rata share using the square footage figures in your lease and flags discrepancies between the stated common area, your rentable area, and the denominator used in cost allocation.
Common Area Misclassification
The scan identifies whether the landlord is including areas in the common area calculation that should be classified as tenant space, storage, or building infrastructure not shared by tenants.
Upload two PDFs. 14 detection rules. Under 15 minutes. Free.
Next Best Step
Scenario pages should bridge from diagnosis into the dispute path and audit proof.
Use the audit process if you still need to validate the billing error.
Use the dispute playbook if the issue is already active.
Run the free audit once you are ready to quantify the overcharge.
Ready to skip the reading and document the overcharge directly?
Find My OverchargesNeed to extract lease terms before your audit?
A CAM audit is only as accurate as your lease data. lextract.io extracts 126 structured fields from any commercial lease PDF: CAM definitions, pro-rata share, caps, base year, and audit rights. So you have the exact terms your landlord is supposed to follow.
Go to lextract.ioThis 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.
