Your lease is the starting point—not an afterthought.

What you will learn.

How to assemble your documents, separate a summary from an obligation, and bring a lease-based question to AUM without assuming that a general explanation decides the answer.

One building does not mean one set of lease terms.

Two tenants at the same property may have different agreements. A neighbor’s allocation, maintenance arrangement, or concession is not evidence that the same term applies to you. Start with your documents, not an assumption about what is customary.

Build your document set.

Locate the executed lease, exhibits, schedules, signed amendments, and any documents the agreement incorporates. Keep commencement confirmations, formal consents, notices, guaranties, and relevant correspondence in a related file. Record dates and parties so you can distinguish an executed document from an earlier draft.

A lease abstract, accounting statement, or portal summary is useful for navigation. It is not a substitute for reading the underlying provision. An amendment may change only selected terms; do not assume it replaces the entire agreement. If provisions appear inconsistent, identify the conflict rather than choosing the version you prefer.

Separate three questions.

What does the document say? What actually happened? What should happen next under the agreement and applicable law? Mixing these questions makes an ordinary administrative issue harder to resolve.

An invoice may contain a clerical error without changing the lease. A service request may be appropriate even when cost responsibility remains under review. A staff member’s initial explanation may need confirmation against the signed documents.

Worked scenario.

A tenant remembers a conversation about free rent and assumes that all charges were waived for two months. The lease has a concession paragraph and a separate additional-rent paragraph. The next step is to review both, along with any amendment, rather than treating the remembered phrase as the complete agreement. Identify which charges, dates, and conditions the documents actually address.

Your lease-check worksheet.

Record the tenant and landlord legal names; property and premises; execution date; amendment dates; location of the notices provision; applicable governing-law provision; and who in your organization maintains the documents. Mark anything missing as missing—not as a presumed term.

Ask AUM this way.

“Our question concerns Section __, as changed by Amendment __. The statement or event is dated __. We read the provision to address __. Please help us identify the applicable record or process.” Attach only the records appropriate to the approved communication channel.

Practice reflection.

A handbook and the lease appear to differ. What should you send AUM? Answer: the specific handbook passage, lease clause, amendment if any, and the concrete issue. Do not assume the handbook can override the executed agreement or a requirement of law.

Bring the lease back to the conversation.

Before asking AUM to act, identify the relevant section, any amendment, the dates involved, and the documents supporting your question. If the issue is a legal interpretation or dispute, seek advice from your own attorney. Routine staff conversations do not change your lease; any change must meet the agreement’s requirements and applicable law.

Background reading.

Cornell LII: lease. General legal background, not a review of an individual agreement.