Rent increase is a bolt from the blue

Mrs K's pubco claims to have found a lease amendment signed by a previous lessee, agreeing to a rent increase

When I bought a pubco tied lease on assignment last May, normal requests for information were undertaken by my solicitor, communicating with the outgoing lessee's solicitors.

The original lease document showed an annual rent of £14,000, although the area manager at the time informed me that because the previous lessee had spent money on the pub, the rent would be held at £12,000 until August 2006, when it would revert to £14,000. This happened as he had indicated.

So imagine my shock when a letter from the pubco arrived out of the blue in May this year, saying it had "found" a lease amendment showing the rent should have been £17,000 from August 2006 and that this would be enforced immediately.

It is also demanding arrears of £2,600. This amendment appears to have been signed by the previous lessee, although she denies all knowledge of it. (She is now living abroad and it is not easy to communicate with her.) This was not declared in the search questionnaires outlined above; nor was the amendment registered with the Land Registry.

The pubco is refusing to meet me to discuss this, while charging me the higher rate of rent.

Based on the pub's current turnover, I'm finding the higher rate difficult to pay. The company's attitude is basically: "Tough - take this up with the previous lessee" - but that's a waste of time as she is effectively bankrupt and not living in this country.

My solicitor and I were completely unaware of this amendment at the time of assignment - when, of course, the pubco's solicitors were also involved in the transfer of title and did not raise it.

Had I known about this issue it is unlikely I'd have bought the lease - the area manager (now gone) was aware my criteria for selecting a pub included a maximum rent of £15,000 per annum.

Can pubcos just "find" amendments, which are legally enforceable after assignments? Why was this never enforced, when it was "signed" in August 2004?

Have I been shafted? And if so, by whom - previous lessees and/or pubco? Is this just a case of caveat emptor (buyer beware)?

Can my lease be revoked as I've bought something different from what I thought?