The state has released its comprehensive review of the Wareham Housing Authority, conducted in July, and it tells a tangled tale of financial mismanagement.

The Housing Authority and its executive director oversee the Agawam Village and Redwood Park affordable housing units in Wareham, and are overseen by the state Department of Housing and Community Development. The Housing Authority board consists of four elected members and one state-appointed member.

Former Executive Director Pam Sequeira announced that she'd be retiring in June, but agreed to keep working until a new director was found. She left abruptly on July 22, just five days after the review was completed.

One thing the review, conducted by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) revealed was that Sequeira did not complete employee time sheets in 2012, and although she completed them in 2013, there is "no evidence of secondary review."

Sequeira's time sheets stated that she worked 37.5 hours per week, but did not provide details on when the hours were worked. Noting the Sequeira also worked 17.5 hours per week at the Carver Housing Authority, the report states "The Executive Director was unable to provide details of how and when those hours were actually worked."

Among the issues found with the Authority was that during the review, the Authority was unable to provide pay stubs for June 2013 which, according to the report, "would have included any pay out of accrued time at the Executive Director's retirement. DHCD staff was not provided any documentation to review the payout made to the Executive Director after retiring."

Another area of concern was of cash disbursements for things such as contract costs, extraordinary maintenance, and travel. Such cash disbursements are supposed to be signed off on by two Housing Authority board members and, according to the report, should only be signed by the Executive Director in an emergency.

According to the report, Sequeira told the DHCD staff conducting the review that she signs all the checks.

The DHCD staff reviewed a random sample of payments, and found that none of the nineteen payments in the sample had been properly approved.

The review cited one instance in which a $496 purchase at Home Depot could not be accounted for: "There was no approval noted on any of the invoices by either the Executive Director or the maintenance department to indicate that the merchandise was picked up or received."

The authority has three credit cards: two for gas, which are used by the Executive Director and the maintenance supervisor, and a Bank of America card which, according to the review, Sequeira claimed to have used only in emergencies.

The review found that gas purchases were not documented, nor were miles driven verified.

The Authority's current credit card purchase policy does not require those using the cards to provide receipts. The state recommended that the Authority add this to its policy.

According to the report, Sequeira also stated that she was the only one who is reimbursed for travel, and only for things such as professional conferences. However, the report states that an unnamed board member was reimbursed twice for travel. One reimbursement was for $138.96, the other for $58.58, and neither payment was supported by information such as beginning and ending odometer readings.

One of the glaring issues identified by the state is the failure of the Housing Authority to submit an operating budget with the signatures of all board members.

Because of the board's failure to do so, the Authority has not received its full subsidy for the fiscal year that ended on June 30.

The only board member who didn't sign it, Donna Barros, refused to do so because she doubted its accuracy, according to Robert Powilatis, chair of the Housing Authority board.

"You want her to sign off and say it was all there, but it wasn't," he said.

There were also flaws found in the Authority's tenant selection process. According to the report, applicants were denied housing if they indicated on their initial application that they had a criminal record. In the denial letters, the reason for the denial in listed as "CORI" when no official Criminal Offender Record Information, or "CORI," check was done.

The report states: "[The Wareham Housing Authority] should immediately discontinue the practice of routinely denying applicants indicating criminal background on the application."

It is also recommended that staff receive training on how to properly conduct initial screenings.

Powilatis says that there's even more to the story than what was in the report.

"I spent an hour an hour on the phone telling [the Department of Housing and Community Development] what was missing," said Powilatis.

He added that the tone of the report seemed a bit gentle, considering the serious issues it outlined.

The state "should have known problems were there. … It was only after I set off these alarms" that the state stepped in, Powilatis says.

Matthew Sheaff, spokesman for DHCD, says the report was thorough.

"The report clearly identifies major issues and challenges facing the Wareham Housing Authority. The state looks forward to working with Mr. Powilatis and the board and starting a new chapter," said Sheaff, adding that the tenants are the state's main concern.

Powilatis maintains that the state should have stepped in sooner.

"There was a failure of oversight from the state," said Powilatis.  "They should have been on top of Pam [Sequeira] because she wasn't filing anything. "

The housing authority board has commissioned accounting firm Powers & Sullivan to conduct an audit of the authority's finances, which Powilatis says he plans to send to the state Attorney General and State Auditor's offices.

A letter addressed to Powilatis asks that the Authority submit a corrective action plan to the state by October 15.

Powilatis says he and the board are on it: "We've already started correcting a lot of these issues."