Lease Admin Nightmares: Ep 9 – The Mystery of the Mismatched Square Footage

“It looked like just another annual increase—until we realized we were being charged for square footage we didn’t even have.“ 

The Setup: The Math Looked Right—Until It Didn’t 

Rent escalations are a fact of life. Ours had climbed steadily year over year. Nothing seemed out of place. 

But a new analyst spotted something odd. The base square footage listed on the invoice was higher than what we had on file. 

So began the investigation. 

The Numbers Don’t Add Up 

Our lease stated 12,100 RSF. The landlord’s invoice used 13,400. When we requested documentation, they cited an “updated measurement.” 

But there was no amendment. No new BOMA report. No formal remeasurement. Just a quiet change with costly consequences. 

The Pushback 

We escalated the issue. The landlord eventually produced a draft measurement report—but it had never been executed. 

Meanwhile, we’d been overpaying for two years based on an inflated figure that wasn’t even in the lease. 

The Costly Consequences 

Correcting the SF error required negotiation, legal review, and time. We recovered some of the overpayments—but not all. And the budgeting ripple effect meant adjustments across our entire portfolio. 

The credibility of our lease data came into question. 

Lessons Learned from the Square Footage Slip 

• Validate SF against executed leases, not assumptions
• Challenge any change without formal documentation
• Reconcile BOMA standards with what’s actually in writing

Don’t Let the Wrong Numbers Set Your Rent 

Square footage might be just a number—but when it’s wrong, everything built on it is, too. 

This is Episode 9 of the Lease Administration Nightmares series. 

Coming soon: Emails in the Void

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#LeaseAdminNightmares | Real Mistakes. Real Lessons. Real Results.