How to Use Your SB-1103 Records-Inspection Rights
California's Commercial Tenant Protection Act — SB-1103, effective January 1, 2025 — does more than say a landlord must allocate building operating costs fairly. It gives a qualified commercial tenant an operational tool: the right to make the landlord hand over the exact backup behind every CAM and OPEX charge. That backup is where overcharges live. The allocation tabulation can reveal a wrong denominator inflating your share; the underlying invoices can reveal non-recoverable or third-party-reimbursed costs that should never have been billed. This is the step-by-step on how to use that right — not a recap of what the law is, but how to exercise it. For a plain overview of who qualifies under SB-1103 and an SB-1103 overview for small businesses, start there; this guide picks up at the action.
What records can a qualified California tenant demand under SB-1103?
You can demand the supporting documentation behind any building operating cost you are billed: the underlying dated invoices, contracts, and receipts; a tabulation showing how each cost was allocated across the building's tenants; and a signed attestation from the landlord that the costs are accurate. These three pieces are not a courtesy — they are the right the statute grants a qualified tenant. The reason they matter so much is mechanical: the allocation tabulation is what shows whether your pro-rata share was computed against the correct building denominator, and the invoices are what show whether each line item was actually recoverable. Without them you are guessing; with them you can do real arithmetic.
Are you a "qualified commercial tenant"?
You may be a qualified commercial tenant (QCT) if you are a microenterprise with five or fewer employees, a restaurant with fewer than ten employees, or a nonprofit with fewer than twenty employees. The protection is not automatic. The law requires you to self-attest your qualifying status to the landlord in writing — typically once a year — and that self-attestation is the step that turns on your records rights. If you have never sent it, send it before you make a records request, so there is no question that you were a qualified tenant at the time you asked. If you are unsure whether you fit a category, this is a good question for your own attorney. Our California commercial tenants guide walks through the thresholds in more detail.
How do you make the request?
You make the request in writing, within your right-to-review-records window, and you keep a copy of both the request and the response. Reference that you are a qualified commercial tenant under SB-1103, state that you are requesting supporting documentation for the building operating costs you were billed, and ask specifically for the itemized invoices and contracts, the allocation tabulation, and the signed attestation. Putting it in writing creates a clean record of what you asked for and what came back — which itself is useful information if the response is incomplete. You do not need to draft this from scratch; a records-request template gives you compliant language to start from. Remember the framing: this is a records request, informational and a starting point, not an accusation that anything is owed.
What should you check once you receive the documentation?
Check four things. First, the allocation tabulation and the denominator it uses — if your share is computed against a building area smaller than the true gross area, your percentage is too high and every CAM dollar is over-allocated to you. Second, the line items: anything your lease does not permit the landlord to pass through does not belong in the total. Third, third-party and insurance reimbursements — a landlord may not bill you for a cost that was reimbursed by insurance or another party. Fourth, the allocation method: a landlord may not change how costs are split in a way that increases your share without giving prior notice and documentation, so compare the method used this year against last year's. Each of these is a place where the documentation either reconciles or it does not.
What if the numbers don't add up?
If the documentation reveals a discrepancy, the law gives the right real teeth — remedies for violations can include actual damages, attorney's fees, and treble plus punitive damages for willful conduct. That exposure is what makes the records right worth exercising rather than ignoring an off-looking bill. But the next move is not to litigate on your own: this article is informational, not legal advice. Take the documented discrepancy — the specific line item, the denominator, the year-over-year method change — together with the landlord's own records to your own attorney, who can advise on the remedies that apply to your facts. A clean, documented discrepancy is far stronger than a hunch, which is exactly why the records request comes first.
The principle to remember: SB-1103 does not just say your CAM bill must be fair — it gives you the right to make the landlord prove it, in writing, with the invoices and the allocation math attached. Use the self-attestation, send the written records request, and check the denominator, the recoverability, and the reimbursements. The documentation is the leverage; your attorney decides what to do with it.
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Informational only; not legal advice and not an audit or attest service. ReCAM is not a CPA firm and these services are not regulated by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy. © ReCAM Technologies LLC.