Tenants of Los Angeles Koreatown’s Equitable Building are complaining after they have been charged with a sudden Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charges by the management firm.
The charges were imposed with no preemptive notice, although the amount of the cost covers last several years. The sudden expense has stirred up controversy among the tenants.
Equitable Building is currently owned by Jamison Properties, the largest Korean-owned real estate development firm.
One of the building’s tenants, a CPA firm owner only identified by his initial A, was shocked after receiving his monthly rent statement last Tuesday as his September rent was higher than usual. After reviewing the statement, he realized that he was charged with several hundred dollars on CAM charge. Notably, the charge included fees dating back to 2013. A was charged with $20 in 2013, $80 in 2014 and $180 in 2015.
Another man who is renting an office space in the same building, only identified by his initial B, was also charged with the same fee.
“How does it make any sense to pay a CAM charge when I’ve signed a gross lease contract?” B said. “The management never informed us about imposing a CAM charge. Even if they were to charge me, to include cost from years back doesn’t make any sense. I’ve spoken to other tenants and it looks like they’ve all been charged as well. We’re thinking of filing a collective complaint.”
There has been a longstanding complaint among Equitable Building’s tenants and the recent CAM charge incident has only taken their displeasure to a new height.
“It took me a long time to get to work Wednesday as two elevators were out of order,” said another tenant, identified by the last name Choi. “At least one or two elevators are broken on a daily basis. I want to ask how they could charge hundreds of dollars when the maintenance itself has been terrible.”
However, Jamison Properties is simply arguing that CAM charges are a part of the legal process in operating a property.
“It is our knowledge that the lease contract has a clause including operating expenses,” said Jamison Properties. “I believe that the charges were imposed based on that clause.”
Lawyer Seung-ho Lee said: “Generally, office spaces are rented out on gross lease contracts. Maintenance fees could be included even in gross contracts. It’s important for the tenants to check for those clauses before signing the contract.”
Lee added: “It’s difficult to prove that such a charge is a violation of the law. However, imposing a CAM charge without such a clause could be problematic.”
By Hyunwoo Kim
