The red flag went up in early January when the Eastern College Athletic Conference received word that officials who had worked games for some of their member schools hadn't been paid. "I was getting 15 or 20 e-mails a day, asking what was going on with PaymentsFirst," said Steve Bamford, the ECAC's administrator for officiating.
Things only became worse in the spring, when lacrosse officials reported that they hadn't been receiving checks from the Pennsylvania company that assigns and pays them on behalf of more than 50 schools, including more than a dozen in New England, nearly all of them small colleges.
Now those institutions, which wrote upfront checks to PaymentsFirst before the season, may have to pay several hundred thousand dollars more to officials to make them whole. "It's hard enough to be an official," said Bowdoin College athletic director Jeff Ward. "You have to get paid."
For some schools, which only used PaymentsFirst for lacrosse, the extra bill is a few thousand dollars. But for Quinnipiac, which signed up for multiple sports, the tally is an estimated $70,000. PaymentsFirst, under a recent consent agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Banking, will have to reimburse or settle with all of the affected colleges within 60 days, or at least make a good faith effort to do so.
Most athletic departments contacted by the Globe declined to say whether or not they'd been repaid, citing ongoing legal issues. Several unnamed schools already have gotten their money back, according to the consent agreement. But after months of missed payments, it's questionable whether others will see much if any cash.
PaymentsFirst, which was not authorized by the state to transmit money, has been prohibited from operating until it receives a license. Roger Sheftel, president of the Philadelphia-area firm, has been difficult to reach, administrators say, and calls to his office and cellphones this week were not returned.
"I think schools are just trying to find out where the money is," says Rich Wanninger, the Patriot League's associate executive director for external relations who also serves as president of the US Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. "They want to get what they were paying for."
What the colleges thought they were paying for was one-stop "zebra" shopping for sports ranging from football and basketball to lacrosse, gymnastics, and wrestling. AssignByWeb, the firm's scheduling affiliate, arranged for the officials and PaymentsFirst compensated them.
"For colleges it's a great deal, because you don't have to cut all the checks and do all the paperwork," says Ward, whose college used the company only for lacrosse, one sport for which the ECAC doesn't assign officials.
Quinnipiac used PaymentsFirst for all of its sports except ice hockey, tennis, and track and cross-country. "Our relationship goes back to late 2005," said Chuck Menke, the school's director of athletic communications. Until this year, there apparently were few problems. "Year 1 was smooth sailing," says Barb Bolich, assistant athletic director at MIT, which is in the middle of a three-year deal with PaymentsFirst for men's lacrosse.
That changed abruptly this past winter, when the complaints began coming in about checks not arriving from PaymentsFirst. The USILA alerted the ADs of its member schools in mid-April, telling them that it was clear they couldn't expect payment from the company and asking them to pay the officials directly. Many already have and all are expected to eventually.
"Schools have responded at different levels, depending on where they are in the process," said Roy Condon, USILA's district assigner for New England. "At least a third have already paid. Another third are sending out W-9s [tax forms]. And probably another third are awaiting a legal response."
Quinnipiac is paying directly, as are Army and Navy and NESCAC schools like Amherst and Colby. "We knew there was confusion and we knew it was incumbent on us to provide a solution," said Bolich, who said MIT has paid officials $6,000 on top of the $5,000 advanced to PaymentsFirst. "We at MIT do not embrace confusion."
What's clear is that the officials will be paid by somebody eventually, most likely by the athletic departments. "We're going to get our money because we're holding the hammer," said one lacrosse official, speaking on condition of anonymity, who works Division 2 and 3 games. "There's going to be a 2010 season."
What they're hoping is that they'll get their checks before it starts. "They know it's coming," said Condon. "Is it great? No. But it comes with the territory." While most lacrosse officials have regular jobs, working the college season can provide several thousand extra dollars, with Division 1 games paying $245 and others $155 plus mileage. "For 99 percent of them, this is an avocation that is treated as a profession and a second source of income," said Condon.
The lacrosse officials were in the worst position because they work the spring season. When PaymentsFirst began running short of money, college administrators believe, the firm paid fall sport officials with advance payments for winter sports, then winter sport officials with payments for spring sports. Since there are no summer sports, the lacrosse officials were odd men out. "We were the caboose," one said.
John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com. 
