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A late fee appeared. You have not finished checking the lines. You’re leaning over the printed commercial lease you pulled out of your folder 10 minutes ago, pen hovering next to the line item for common area maintenance that you flagged last week for mismatched square footage counts. A crumpled copy of the invoice the landlord sent last Tuesday sits tucked under the lease’s edge, the $287 late fee printed in bold red ink at the very bottom of the first page. You know you only received the full breakdown of the invoice charges 6 days ago, so the late fee feels premature, but you want to confirm your rights under your lease before you reach out.
Cross-reference lease clauses first
Flipping to the billing disputes section of your lease first, before you even dig into the line-item math, saves you hours of unnecessary stress down the line. Most commercial leases have a clear clause that lets you contest an invoice without incurring late fees as long as you notify the landlord in writing within a set window, usually 10 to 15 business days of receiving the full, itemized bill. Note the exact deadline listed on that clause, scrawl it in the margin of your invoice in bold ink so you don’t miss it, even if other tasks pull you away from this review for a day or two. You don’t need to have all your proof assembled to send the initial notification, just enough to state that you are actively reviewing the bill and dispute the current balance including the recently added late fee. This initial notification preserves your right to avoid paying the late fee while you complete your review, even if you take the full allowed window to submit your full dispute packet.
Line up supporting documentation for the disputed charges
Pull every relevant record you have for the billing period in question, and sort them into a single stack next to your lease and invoice so you don’t waste time searching for loose papers mid-review. That includes last year’s CAM reconciliation statement, the signed square footage breakdown you received when you signed the lease, payment receipts for any charges you already paid that are listed as outstanding on the current invoice, and any email correspondence with the property manager about past billing adjustments you both agreed to earlier in the year. If you have a shared online portal with the property management team, pull up the digital copies of past invoices there too, to make sure the printed copy you have matches what they have on file, and cross-check the date they marked the invoice as sent to confirm it aligns with the date you actually received the itemized breakdown. If there is a gap between the send date listed on the portal and the date you received the bill, note that in the margin as well, as that may shorten the amount of time you had to review the charges before the late fee was applied.
Compare listed fee amounts to allowed lease terms
For each line item on the invoice, cross-check the listed rate or flat fee against the exact terms written into your lease, and note any discrepancies no matter how small they seem. Even a $20 per month discrepancy can add up to hundreds of dollars over the term of your lease, so it is worth flagging every mismatch you find.
| Charge Type | Lease Allowed Maximum | Invoice Listed Amount | Discrepancy Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Area Maintenance | $1.12 per sq ft per month | $1.34 per sq ft per month | Calculation uses total building sq ft 12% higher than lease-stated count |
| Monthly Base Rent | $14,200 flat per month | $14,200 flat per month | No discrepancy, matches lease terms |
| After-hours HVAC Access | $95 per 4 hour block | $190 per 4 hour block | Rate increased 100% with no 30 day written notice as required by lease |
Illustrative example: If your leased space is 2,200 sq ft, the common area maintenance overcharge alone adds $484 to your monthly bill before the late fee is applied.
Jot down each discrepancy you find next to the corresponding line on the invoice, and paperclip the supporting document that proves the lease terms differ from what is listed on the bill to that page of the invoice. You do not need to calculate the exact adjusted total right now, but having each discrepancy mapped to a specific lease clause will make your dispute far easier to resolve, and cuts down on back-and-forth with the property management team once you submit your formal review.
Draft a short, factual note to send to your property manager
Keep the note neutral, no emotional language or accusations of overcharging, just state the facts clearly and concisely to avoid unnecessary friction. Start by noting the invoice number and date at the top of the note, then state that you are currently reviewing the listed charges and dispute the current outstanding balance, including the recently added late fee. Reference the specific lease clause number that allows you to contest the invoice without late fee penalties during the designated review period, and list the 2 to 3 most significant discrepancies you have found so far to give the property team context for your dispute. Let them know you will send a full breakdown of all disputed charges along with supporting documentation as soon as you finish your full review, and offer to hop on a 15 minute call at their convenience to discuss any questions they have in the meantime. If you have the option to send the note through the property management portal, do that first, then send a copy to your property manager’s direct email so you have two time-stamped records of the notification, in case one gets lost in a spam folder or portal glitch. You can run the draft of your note through Lease Jacket to make sure it aligns with standard commercial lease dispute best practices before you send it. Once you send the note, save a copy of it in the same folder as your lease and invoice, so you can reference it easily when you come back to this review later.
Follow up when you reopen this page in 3 business days
When you pull this lease and invoice back up in 3 business days, you will first check for any response from your property management team to the notification you sent. If they responded, note any requests for additional information they included, and prioritize pulling those records first as you finish reviewing the remaining line items on the invoice. If they did not respond, send a quick follow-up note referencing your original message’s send date and subject line, to make sure it did not get lost in their crowded inbox. You will then finish cross-checking the last 2 line items you have not yet verified, which are the monthly parking pass charges and the quarterly security service fee, to make sure those align with your lease terms as well. Once you have all line items verified, you will compile all supporting documents into a single, labeled packet to send to the property management team, with a clear, itemized breakdown of the adjusted total you believe you owe for the billing period. You will also double-check the deadline for your formal dispute submission that you jotted down earlier, to make sure you send the full packet well before that window closes. If you have not received a written confirmation that the late fee is paused or waived by the end of the review period, you will follow up again to request that confirmation in writing for your records, so you do not run into issues with additional fees being added while your dispute is under review. You will also set a reminder to check back in 7 business days after sending your full dispute packet, to ask for a status update if you have not heard back by that point.