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“Who is CTS?”
“How will this affect my relationship with my landlord?”
“Why not use an accounting firm?”
“Why not rely upon our CFO/RE Department/Director
of Facilities?”
“Why use CTS if we have already found overcharges
during our in-house audit?”
“How long does a lease audit take?”
“What is CTS' fee schedule?”
“Why not use our trusted broker?”
“Would a CTS lease audit disrupt our staff?”
“Why use CTS when there doesn't seem much to
find?”
“Why not use our lawyers?”
“Who are CTS' clients?”
Q:
“Who is CTS?”
A: Since 1987, CTS has consistently performed lease audits for clients
of all sizes in all industries. Lease audit is a very quiet business.
The entire process is covered by a confidentiality agreement. CTS
serves clients across North America. It is likely your landlord
has heard of CTS, as we’ve recovered from the largest property
owners.
Q: "How will this
affect my relationship with my landlord?"
A: CTS is acutely aware of the sensitive nature of relationships
between landlords and tenants. CTS’ initial review, from documents
you possess, will strongly indicate the potential for recoveries.
This analysis is invisible to our clients' landlord. CTS never makes
any contact with any landlord, for any reason, without the explicit
approval of our client. Also, lease audit has become a standard
tool used by tenants everywhere.
Q: "Why not use an accounting firm?"
A: An accounting firm monitors billings and the accuracy of transactions.
However, it lacks extensive experience in areas critical to effective
lease auditing: Property management, HVAC systems, Electricity,
Building operations and Real estate law. In fact, one of the biggest
accounting firms engaged CTS to audit their leases. CPA firms are
prohibited from working on a contingency basis in many states. Also,
as the largest landlords typically use CPA firms for their financial
statements, those same firms are often “conflicted out”
from performing audits, due to those same relationships.
Q: “Why not rely
upon our CFO/RE Department/Director of Facilities?”
A: The lease audit process is a periodic activity, but like any
highly specialized discipline it requires full time focused expertise.
The complexities of landlord billing methods are endless. By analogy:
no one would expect a physician, skilled in general practice, to
effectively perform microsurgery. Audits can take hundreds of hours
and in-house personnel have other responsibilities.
Q: “Why use CTS
if we have already found overcharges during our in-house audit?”
A: After periodic internal reviews that occasionally recover funds,
a regular program of follow-up audits by CTS, an independent authority,
assures the unearthing of potential additional discrepancies. With
a follow up audit (or re-audit), dozens of CTS’ clients have
recovered tens of millions of additional dollars. Please see our
Case Studies.
Q: "How long does
a lease audit take?"
A: A lease audit may be completed in as little as two months, or
as long as two years. We find that the most time-consuming element
of the review is simply getting the invoices and documentation from
the client and/or landlord. For this reason property tax audits
are usually much faster, since we can obtain most of the necessary
information directly from the county offices ourselves.
Q: "What is CTS'
fee schedule?"
A: CTS can operate on a fixed fee basis, a full contingency-based
fee basis, or a hybrid fee structure.
Q: “Why not use
our trusted broker?”
A: Brokers may serve you well in their area of specialty; locating
space….However, analyzing the entire billing history of a
tenant can be very time consuming and poses a potential conflict
of interest. Often, the better brokers actually refer their clients
to CTS for our highly specialized service and in depth expertise.
As our work does not conflict with brokers’, we are happy
to speak with yours and assure them that CTS will work with them
in supporting your best long-term interests.
Q: “Would a CTS
lease audit disrupt our staff?”
A: Your staff remains undisturbed throughout the process. Audits
are performed, and all reports compiled at our New York office (please
see Lease Audit Process). For our
initial review, all you provide is a photocopy of the lease, and
some rent and escalation statements.
Q: "Why use CTS
when there doesn't seem much to find?"
A: Few of our clients anticipated their substantial return. We deliver
funds that go straight to your bottom line, which can typically
ranging from $2 to $20 per square foot.
Q: "Why not use
our lawyers?"
A: Lawyers are skilled in drafting leases but are not well equipped
to address the intricacies of ongoing building operations and financial
systems. Over fifty law firms, many with substantial real estate
practices and major accounting firms on retainer, have engaged CTS
to provide services with great success.
Q: "Who are CTS'
clients?"
A: CTS has audited over 200 million square feet of commercial property
(Please see our Industry List).
If you would like further details of our engagements or client roster,
please contact us directly.
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