There was a bit of good news about the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in the past week, the awarding of lots in Kapolei to 37 prequalified applicants, which is what should be the kind of accomplishment the agency clicks off, one after another.

Unfortunately and too often, the proper mission of implementing the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act is overshadowed by the agency’s mismanagement draining away too much of its limited resources.

It’s an issue unmasked repeatedly in state audits, the subject of a lengthy lawsuit against the state, and is constantly bemoaned by beneficiaries who have languished on waiting lists to be placed on the land.

Once again, a case of deliquent lease payments has come to light, this time a cumulative debt that grew to six figures — one involving an unauthorized sublease, as well. Compounding the offense: An unwitting sublessee will be left high and dry.

The lease was held by a Hawaii island resident, Lawrence Balberde, who eventually owed $242,000 in back rent on a DHHL parcel in Hilo, all the while collecting thousands of dollars each month through his illegal sublease to a congregation, the Connect Point Church. Documents also showed Balberde owed about $470,000 in delinquent property taxes, interest and penalties.

In May the lease was finally canceled, leaving the church on Holomua Street in limbo while the parcel goes out for auction.

It is not surprising that this is how the Hawaiian Homes Commission is seeking to resolve the dispute. But it’s completely unacceptable that the cancellation didn’t come until nearly eight years after DHHL sent the initial delinquency notice to Balberde.

How can this be called “land management”? “Mismanagement” would be more apropos.

Balberde asserts that the DHHL land division manager, now retired, was aware of the sublease and had given him verbal approval. Department staff have disputed that contention and say that the agency does not make such verbal agreements, as subleases require approval of the Hawaiian Homes Commission.

Regardless of who knew what about the sublease, it’s unconscionable that this kind of sloppy lease management is allowed, that delinquency of this magnitude would be tolerated.

Connect Point has invested more than $550,000 in repairs to the building where it holds services, a building originally constructed by Balberde.

“Connect Point Church was put into this predicament with Lawrence Balberde because of DHHL’s poor management and negligence of oversight of their lessee,” its senior pastor, Dion Maeda, rightly told the commission in its appeal for a long-term lease.

Finding a new bidder for the lease may be the logical way to resolve the matter. The sublessee likely put too much faith in its landlord without the security of a long-term lease.

However, Connect Point has garnered support from the community, and the commission should explore possible accommodation with the church. The DHHL administration’s inability to properly track what was going on should allow some understanding for the victim in this case.

The big picture here, which the Balberde matter serves to illuminate, is the dire need at DHHL for more professional property management. For years, audits have identified myriad managerial problems with loan delinquency, inconsistency with revocable leases and other shortcomings.

The bottom line is that these failings compromise DHHL’s trust duties to beneficiaries, which is why a class-action suit is before the Hawaii Supreme Court. If such deficits are addressed, then perhaps more good-news stories such as the homesteads in Kapolei will be routinely told.

That day, though, seems a long way off.