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Management Fees: Make Sure Your Lease Is Clear

By Missy McCoy
March 01, 2019

Landlord's management fees are an often-negotiated matter between landlords and tenants. From the landlord's perspective, having the flexibility to pass through all amounts incurred in the management of the leased property and common areas, whether such management is performed by the landlord or a third party, is essential. Conversely, the tenant desires certainty and limitations with respect to management fees.

As the cases described below demonstrate, there is no uniform approach relating to management fee provisions in leases, and courts will recognize inequities in the charging and payment of management fees when lease terms are ambiguous or a landlord or tenant fails to comply with the terms of its lease.

Plain and Ordinary Language

In IFS Filing Systems LLC v. 11225 Heather LLC and Brennan Investment Group LLC, No. 2017AP1376, 2018 WL 5920614, 2-3 (Wis. Ct. App. Nov. 13, 2018), the assignee of the original tenant to a lease refused to pay a portion of rent allocable to management fees upon assignment of the lease from the original tenant, asserting that management fee payments were not required under the lease.

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