CAM (Common Area Maintenance)
CAM is the common area maintenance charge — the tenant's pro-rata share of expenses for shared spaces like parking lots, landscaping, lobbies, and shared utilities.
What it means
CAM is one of the three "nets" in a NNN lease. It covers snow removal, landscaping, parking-lot maintenance, common-area cleaning, common-area utilities, and in some cases shared security.
CAM is typically billed monthly as an estimate and reconciled annually — the "CAM recon." Disputes over reconciliations are one of the most common landlord-tenant conflicts in commercial real estate. Sophisticated tenants negotiate caps (e.g., CAM increases cannot exceed 5% annually), exclusions (capital items, management fees), and audit rights.
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