A woman in Ottawa who bought her first home using a new online auction platform now faces more than $100,000 in repairs for issues not disclosed in the property's inspection report, and says the company that sold her the home at auction was unresponsive for months.

Jennifer Milling, the new homeowner, said attempts to get "Unreserved" (a tech startup based in Ottawa that considers itself a leader in the Ontario real estate industry) to take partial responsibility for failing to disclose a number of major defects in her new home and pay for the unexpected repairs she discovered after taking possession have been unsuccessful.

The defects included a defective furnace, crumbling brickwork, an electrical panel that did not match the listing specifications, and residual aluminum siding that affected the exterior walls, in addition to structural charring damage from an old fire in 2003 that Milling said she only discovered after the contractor she brought in to assess the damages found burnt wood and charcoal pieces under the floors and in the yard. Milling expressed frustration, saying: "It wouldn’t have hurt their bottom line, and their business model, to care about someone who trusted them." She added that in hindsight, she should not have relied solely on the inspection report and warranty included in the listing.

Milling and her lawyer are suing Unreserved for $44,850.78 - less than half the total repair costs for what they believe are the most obvious defects that should have been disclosed in Unreserved's property report before handing it over. The current homeowner stated she has no idea about selling or keeping the house in the future because all she currently cares about is winning the case against the company to recover at least a small part of her money.