Glossary
Caps & Limits
Cumulative CAM Cap
A cap where unused increase room from a below-cap year carries forward into later years. The carryforward can be added straight to the base (linear) or compounded. Either way, a quiet year raises what the landlord can bill later.
Firm impact
Multi-year engagements need a year-by-year ledger of banked headroom, not just a single-year check. Miss the carryforward and your firm can misstate how much a landlord is allowed to bill in year three or four of an audit.
How this gets abused
A lease sets a 5% cumulative cap with linear carryforward. In year two, actual costs rise only 2%, banking 3% of headroom. In year three, the lease allows 5% plus that 3%, for 8%. The landlord instead compounds all prior years and bills 9.4%, an amount the linear formula never authorized.
Practitioner note
Find the exact formula in the lease. 'Cumulative' means different things in different leases: some compound (base × (1 + rate)^N), some add linearly (base × (1 + rate × N)). Do not trust the label alone. CAMAudit's CAM Cap Violation rule reads the lease formula directly and tracks banked headroom year over year rather than guessing from the word 'cumulative.'
Related terms
FAQ
Questions about cumulative cam cap
Does a cumulative CAM cap ever expire or reset?
Only if the lease says so. Most cumulative caps run for the full lease term, so unused headroom from year one can still matter in year ten. Read the cap clause for any reset language tied to renewal or a new base year.
How does CAMAudit tell a cumulative cap from a non-cumulative one?
CAMAudit reads the cap clause and applies the specific formula it finds, linear or compounded, rather than guessing from the word 'cumulative.' It carries banked headroom forward year over year so the cap ceiling matches what the lease actually allows.
You know the term. Now check the math.
Get started to deliver white-label CAM audit reports under your firm brand.