CREparserHow to tie out a rent roll to the leases
In short: to tie out a rent roll, take each occupied unit and check its tenant, area, current rent, lease dates and security deposit against the lease and every amendment. Calculate the rent the lease requires on the rent roll date, not the rent at signing. Record each difference with the cells on one side and the clause on the other, and work out what it’s worth a year.
Why tie out a rent roll?
A rent roll is the seller’s or property manager’s summary of who pays what. Buyers and lenders underwrite from it, so an error flows straight into value: income that isn’t there, or isn’t collected, lowers the price the property can support. A tie-out, sometimes called a rent roll audit or lease audit, tests the summary against the contracts behind it.
What do you check for each unit?
| Field | On the rent roll | In the lease |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant | Name as billed | Legal name and entity, after any assignment |
| Area | Rentable square feet | Rentable area, as amended |
| Current rent | Monthly or annual rent | Rent schedule step in force on the rent roll date |
| Lease dates | Start and end | Commencement and expiration, as amended |
| Security deposit | Amount held | Required amount, after any scheduled reduction |
| Status | Occupied or vacant | Any lease signed for “vacant” space |
Then check the totals: the sum of the units should equal the stated totals for area, monthly rent and annual rent.
How do you find the rent in force on the rent roll date?
This is where most differences come from. Leases step up on anniversaries, abatements end, and amendments change the schedule; rent rolls are often slow to follow.
- Note the rent roll’s “as of” date.
- Find the lease’s base rent schedule, applying any amendments.
- Pick the period that contains the rent roll date.
- Convert to the rent roll’s basis: monthly, annual, or per square foot.
A worked example
The fictional Harborview Tower rent roll is dated October 1, 2026. It has seven suites totalling 49,950 RSF, six of them occupied. Suite 1200 is let to Northwind Analytics:
| Field | Rent roll | Lease | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area | 12,450 | 12,450 (p. 2) | Matches |
| Monthly rent on Oct 1, 2026 | $60,175.00 | $61,980.25 (p. 3) | Differs |
| Lease end | Jun 30, 2035 | Jun 30, 2035 (p. 2) | Matches |
| Security deposit | $180,525.00 | $180,525.00 (p. 4) | Matches |
The rent roll still shows the first year’s rent. The lease stepped up on July 1, 2026:
($61,980.25 − $60,175.00) × 12 = $21,663 a year missing from the rent roll.
Here the rent roll understates income the lease supports. The opposite error, a rent roll showing more than the lease does, is the one that costs a buyer or lender. Either way, the fix starts with the clause and the cell side by side.
What else should a tie-out flag?
- Units with no lease on file. In the example, five occupied units had no lease provided to tie against. Ask for them before relying on those rents.
- Rollover. Two leases expiring within 16 months of each other is a concentration risk worth noting.
- Vacancy. Confirm vacant units really are vacant, and that no lease has been signed for them.
- Concessions and abatements. Free rent that the rent roll shows as paid rent overstates income.
- Tenants in default. Compare the rent roll with the aged receivables if you have them.
- Tenant estoppels. In an acquisition, each tenant’s certificate is a third source for the same row. See how to review an estoppel certificate.
How to record the results
For each difference, keep:
- the unit and tenant
- the rent roll value, with its row and column
- the lease value, with the clause, page and quote
- the annual impact
- what to ask the seller or manager
Reviewers should be able to open both sources from the record. Without that, every question means going back to the documents.
Tie out a rent roll in minutes
CREparser Deal Review checks each unit on a rent roll (Excel, CSV or PDF) against its lease inside Claude: area, rent on the rent roll date, lease end and deposit, with the clause and the cells side by side and differences flagged. It also abstracts the leases themselves.
Try it with the sample rent roll and office lease. Your first 5 documents are free.