What do common area maintenance fees include?

Don’t let your landlord pass the buck to you with inappropriate common area maintenance (CAM) costs. Common area maintenance clauses require tenants to pay their proportionate share of the maintenance and operation costs but exactly what’s included varies from lease to lease.  Certain fees make sense, but your landlord’s capital expenditures and tacked-on administrative fees may cause greater costs than you should bear. Try to get a cap to CAM costs, increases, and reasonable administrative fees that are tied to the services your landlord provides.