2026-09-12 · Maryland · Courts

What happened. On 11 May 2026 a Nottingham property manager pleaded guilty in the Circuit Court for Harford County to running a scheme through the homeowners-association accounts she managed, and was sentenced to 20 years, all suspended but five years to serve. She was taken into custody immediately. Restitution is expected to reach close to $600,000.¹

The manager was Sarah Chester, 44, owner of Magnolia Properties. She pleaded guilty before Judge Paul W. Ishak to theft scheme over $100,000, forgery and counterfeiting of private documents, and embezzlement. Prosecutors put the affected population at more than 250 households and roughly 1,500 individuals across associations in Harford and Baltimore counties. Over 50 residents attended the sentencing.¹²

The mechanism

The scheme ran from 2021 to 2025, and its structure is the part relevant to every Maryland board:¹

• She siphoned funds from each association into personal accounts.
• She fabricated bank statements to present to boards.
• She transferred money between the associations' accounts to cover the resulting shortfalls — which is what makes it a Ponzi structure rather than simple theft, and what let it survive four years.
• The proceeds funded trips to Europe and country-club memberships.

It was uncovered by the Hamilton Reserve HOA board, shortly after Thanksgiving 2025. Not by an auditor, not by a bank, not by a regulator — by volunteers looking at their own accounts.

Restitution was left open for 30 days after sentencing to verify amounts across the affected associations. It was prosecuted by Assistant State's Attorney Ari Kodeck under State's Attorney Alison M. Healey.

1. Office of the State's Attorney for Harford County — Nottingham Woman Convicted in HOA Theft Scheme: the guilty plea of 11 May 2026 before Judge Paul W. Ishak, the 20-year sentence with five years to serve, the charges, the 2021-2025 period, the fabricated bank statements and inter-association transfers, and the Hamilton Reserve HOA board's discovery ↩
2. Patch (Bel Air), 19 May 2026 — reporting on the sentencing, the restitution figure approaching $600,000, the 250-plus households and roughly 1,500 individuals affected, and the 30-day period left open to verify amounts ↩
3. House Bill 853 (2026), Real Property – Regulation of Common Ownership Community Managers — died in House Economic Matters without a committee report (see also HB 1644, which would have licensed managers through the State Real Estate Commission and never received a hearing) ↩
4. Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Final Order against a community-association property manager, 3 December 2025 — $1.3 million in civil penalties, $179,000 in costs, and restoration of more than $25,000 withdrawn from an association's account without authorisation ↩