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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 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 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:

         (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: November 12, 2004              By: /s/ David C. Vernon
                                          --------------------------------------
                                          David C. Vernon
                                          Chairman of the Board, President and
                                          Chief Executive Officer
                                          (Principal Executive Officer)