What is the difference between a CAM cap and a controllable expense cap?

A CAM cap applies to all CAM expenses. A controllable expense cap applies only to expenses the landlord can manage, such as management fees, janitorial, landscaping, and security. Non-controllable expenses (taxes, insurance) are excluded because landlords cannot control them. Controllable caps are more common than all-expense caps.

Is the CAM cap a simple annual limit or a cumulative cap?

Both types exist. An annual cap limits year-over-year growth (e.g., no more than 5% above the prior year's charges). A cumulative cap limits total growth from a base year (e.g., never more than 20% above the base year, regardless of annual increases). Cumulative caps can be more tenant-favorable in periods of sustained inflation.

Can a landlord exclude certain expenses from the CAM cap?

Yes, caps typically exclude non-controllable expenses like real estate taxes, insurance premiums, and utility charges because these are driven by third parties. What counts as non-controllable should be explicitly defined in your lease. Landlords sometimes reclassify controllable expenses as non-controllable to avoid the cap.

What years do I need to prove a CAM cap violation?

You need the base year or prior year reconciliation statement and the current year reconciliation. CAMAudit uses both documents to calculate the year-over-year increase and compare it to the lease cap. If you are missing a prior year statement, request it from your landlord as part of your audit rights.

Math-Based Rule

CAM Cap Violation: How CAMAudit Detects This Overcharge

If your lease has a CAM cap and your landlord exceeded it, every dollar above the cap is an overcharge that compounds annually. A 3% cap violation on a $50,000 controllable CAM pool means $1,500 in overcharges per year, every year the violation continues.

How CAMAudit Detects This

CAMAudit extracts the CAM cap provision from your lease, including the cap percentage, the base year or comparison year, and whether the cap applies to all expenses or only controllable expenses. It distinguishes between annual caps (which limit year-over-year growth) and cumulative caps (which limit total growth from a base year).

The tool then retrieves the prior year's CAM reconciliation data (from the documents you upload) and calculates the maximum permitted charges for the current year by applying the cap percentage to the prior year's figures. If the actual charges exceed this ceiling, CAMAudit calculates the overage and flags it as a quantified overcharge.

CAMAudit also checks whether the landlord correctly excluded non-controllable expenses (taxes, insurance, utilities) from the cap calculation. A common error is applying the cap only to some line items while allowing uncapped expenses to grow without limit.

Real-World Example

A restaurant tenant's lease capped controllable CAM increases at 5% annually. Prior year controllable CAM charges were $28,400. The 5% cap set the ceiling for the current year at $29,820. The reconciliation showed $34,100 in controllable expenses. CAMAudit calculated the overage: $34,100 minus $29,820 equals $4,280 in overcharges for that reconciliation year.

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CAM Cap Violation: How CAMAudit Detects This Overcharge

How CAMAudit Detects This

Real-World Example

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Upload your lease. CAMAudit runs 13 detection rules in under 5 minutes.

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Frequently asked questions

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Find overcharges in your CAM reconciliation. Most audits complete in under 5 minutes.

Find My Overcharges See a sample report first