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                           CENTRAL FEDERAL CORPORATION
                                  Exhibit 31.1
                          Rule 13a-14(a) Certifications

I, David C. Vernon, certify that:

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-QSB of Central Federal
      Corporation;

2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
      of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the
      statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements
      were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this
      report;

3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
      information included in this report, fairly present in all material
      respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of
      the small business issuer as of, and for, the periods presented in this
      report;

4.    The small business issuer's other certifying officer(s) and I are
      responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
      procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for
      the small business issuer and have:

            (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            small business issuer, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
            made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
            during the period in which this report is being prepared;

            (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the small business issuer's
            disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
            conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
            procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based
            on such evaluation; and

            (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the small business
            issuer's internal control over financial reporting that occurred
            during the small business issuer's most recent fiscal quarter (the
            small business issuer's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
            annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely
            to materially affect, the small business issuer's internal control
            over financial reporting; and

5.    The small business issuer's other certifying officer(s) and I have
      disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
      financial reporting, to the small business issuer's auditors and the audit
      committee of the small business issuer's board of directors (or persons
      performing the equivalent functions):

            (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
            design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
            which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the small business
            issuer's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
            information; and

            (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or
            other employees who have a significant role in the small business
            issuer's internal control over financial reporting.

Dated: May 14, 2004                   By: /s/ David C. Vernon
                                          ------------------------------------
                                          David C. Vernon
                                          Chairman of the Board, President and
                                          Chief Executive Officer
                                          (Principal Executive Officer)

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