Tenants Can't Force Owner to Reapportion CAM Costs

A center's tenants each paid a share of CAM costs based on a percentage calculated by dividing a tenant's leasable floor space into the gross leasable floor space of the entire center. The owner then constructed a self-storage facility in the basement and rented this space to a new tenant. The other tenants sued the owner, claiming that the new storage facility increased the gross leasable floor space of the center. So their share of CAM costs should be reapportioned. The owner asked the court to dismiss the tenants' case.

A New York appeals court ruled that the tenants weren't entitled to have their share of CAM costs reapportioned. The court noted that each lease had a provision that excluded the basement area from the calculation of the gross leasable floor area of the center. Since that lease provision was “clear and unambiguous,” it would be “enforced as written,” said the court [A & J Corp. III v. VW II, LP].