Commercial leases typically contain numerous, often complicated, billing clauses, and only an expert auditor with detailed knowledge of the various issues can ensure that the tenant is not being overcharged. In fact, common landlord errors can end up costing a company a small fortune, with experts maintaining that some 80%-90% of tenants are in fact overcharged by their landlords. Common billing errors of this nature include: improperly calculating escalation billings, or including ineligible expense items in those escalation billings; incorrect utility charges, and/or failing to apply tax refunds to the addition of surcharges to utility costs; charging above-market fees for non-arms-length services.
 
Metropolitan Lease Consulting LLC is a full-service lease audit firm consisting of experienced certified public accountants and former senior real estate executives with more than 50 years of combined experience, giving us an unparalleled audit perspective. Our team of professionals has a proven track record of critically evaluating commercial lease agreements and uncovering errors and miscalculations in operating expenses, real estate tax and other escalations, and utilities. Remediation of these errors can recoup often large—sometimes enormous—sums of money for the tenant. 

In addition to our extensive auditing and “other side of the desk” executive experience, we offer boutique-style lease consulting services that larger auditors simply do not provide. Most critically, we will work closely with clients’ in-house real estate and financial teams to audit and control the charges permitted under the lease’s terms, as well as educate those teams as to how future leases or renewals may be more favorably structured.  This allows our clients to rest assured not only with respect to the fact that they are being accurately charged, but also that they will always be fully and intelligently informed when negotiating new or renewal leases with their landlords.