AssignByWeb problems

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by zeedonk

Where can I get more information on the NCAA's new stake in RefPay and Arbiter? Anybody have any information on how the mess is being resolved now, or if there have been any lawsuits filed yet?

Z

I can say that one school here has decided to pay the officals themselves (even though the had sent the seasonb's worth of payments to RefPay already) and seek reimbursement from RefPay.

That's the way it should be handled, imo. The officials contracted with the school (possibly through an association or assigner). The schools are responsible for getting the officials paid. How they do that, and problems they encounter in doing so, are not our concern.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

The officials contracted with the school (possibly through an association or assigner). The schools are responsible for getting the officials paid. How they do that, and problems they encounter in doing so, are not our concern.

Bob - I agree that maybe it "shouldn't be their concern," if the refs who worked actually got paid. However, when someone hasn't been paid for this many months, it becomes their concern. JMO

[BayStateRef]

The Pennsylvania Department of Banking has undertaken a legal challenge against AssignByWeb, PaymentsFirst and the company president that resulted in a consent decree. It is available here.

It gives PaymentsFirst 60 days to repay the money to the colleges. As I understand, most officials have been paid by the colleges....which now must get their money back from PaymentsFirst. Some have.

[BayStateRef]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

I can say that one school here has decided to pay the officals themselves (even though the had sent the seasonb's worth of payments to RefPay already) and seek reimbursement from RefPay.

That's the way it should be handled, imo. The officials contracted with the school (possibly through an association or assigner). The schools are responsible for getting the officials paid. How they do that, and problems they encounter in doing so, are not our concern.

The company involved here is not RefPay...which is an offshoot of The Arbiter, which now has the NCAA ownership.

The company here is PaymentsFirst, which is an offshoot of AssignByWeb.

They both are supposed to work the same way. The school or conference sends the money to PaymentsFirst, which then pays the officials after the games are worked. PaymentsFirst handles all the paperwork with the officials, including tax forms. This is supposed to make it easier for the schools -- since they have to write only one check to PaymentsFirst and don't have to account for every official in every sport.

It seems to me that PaymentsFirst used the money it collected from the schools for other things and did not have the money to pay officials when the bills came due. No one is saying what those "other things" are ... but it can range from "normal business expenses" (payroll, computer support, marketing) that outstrip income to totally corrupt (think Bernie Madoff). My feeling, and the fact that this was settled by a consent decree with the banking department and not by a criminal action by the attorney general, suggests to me that this start-up operation was undercapitalized.