Lease Administration: 5 Duties of a Lease Administrator

Lease administration, sometimes called lease management, is a critical role that oversees the administration, tracking, and auditing of lease documents. A lease administrator might focus on real estate leases for a specific real estate company or a holding company's rental real estate portfolio; perform the role for multiple companies as a solo contractor; or even specialize in serving as both an administrator and a real estate manager (or property manager).

Lease administrators who are real estate professionals can oversee commercial real estate leases, residential leases, or rental properties. Lease administrators also play vital roles in other industries, such as healthcare device manufacturing, where they manage lease contracts for large capital equipment assets like MRI machines or other healthcare technology assets.

In the past, lease managers kept track of all lease data using simple technology like digital spreadsheets. In more recent years, lease administrators have become proficient at lease administration software, which is now the norm for compiling and analyzing lease data.

There are many moving parts to lease administration, and they all require input or approval from different stakeholders. A lease manager ensures smooth and timely transactions between parties—including the renter, property manager or real estate manager—facilities management, and outside vendors when necessary. In manufacturing lease administration, the lease manager coordinates activities between the corporate client and the end-user.

A lease administrator usually has good project management skills, as they are responsible for overseeing all aspects of the lease agreement process. Veteran administrators have years of experience in creating new leases and ongoing asset management responsibilities, whether they pertain to real estate or other property, like medical equipment. Whatever the industry, here are a few typical responsibilities of lease administrator jobs:

1. 1. Assist with new lease creation: The lease manager typically kicks off the lease administration process by gathering all the relevant lease information necessary for creating lease contracts, including lease terms, lease obligations, payment terms, critical dates for completion or renewal, and contact information for all parties. Additionally, they must track all lease amendments.
2. 2. Manage assets or properties: Lease administrators might fulfill portfolio management duties if they oversee several different properties or even office management duties—for example, if they work at a real estate company’s main office and must perform more general administrative work on a day-to-day basis.
3. 3. Process lease renewals and terminations: An administrator must finalize all paperwork before clients can renew or terminate a lease, similar to the responsibilities involved in new lease creation.
4. 4. Produce lease audits and reports: Some lease administrators are also skilled at real estate accounting, which can be useful for performing auditing duties. Auditing, or lease accounting, requires the administrator to produce timely reports (called lease abstractions) that detail all the lease data. Then the administrator ensures the abstractions are up to date and that all parties have the most current version. Administrators often deliver these reports over to the financial reporting team, property management team, forecasting team, and auditors if necessary—for example, for purposes of an occupancy cost analysis.
5. 5. Track rent payments and fees: Per the lease agreement, renters might be subject to fees if they do not pay on time. The administrator tracks critical dates and begins the escalation process if lessees do not make payments on time. Additional monetary figures a commercial lease administrator might track including operating expenses.

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