Working with a strip mall owner who has 15 small commercial tenants. Each tenant pays utilities directly but he thinks some might be getting overcharged. Problem is getting cooperation from all the individual businesses. Any strategies for this type of situation?
Strip mall headaches
Iris, I'd focus on the landlord's common area billing first - parking lot lighting, HVAC for common spaces, etc. That's often where the biggest errors are anyway. Then use any savings there as credibility to approach tenants individually.
Barbara's approach is smart. Also check if any tenants are incorrectly getting charged for common area usage. Seen cases where individual meters weren't properly isolated from building systems.