§ 26.68 Personal net worth. ( a ) *General.* An owner whose PNW exceeds $2,047,000 is not presumed economically disadvantaged. The Department will adjust the PNW cap pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section.
( b ) *Required documents.* Each owner on whom the firm relies for certification must submit a DOE and a corroborating personal net worth (PNW) statement, including required attachments. The owner must report PNW on the form, available at *https://www.Transportation.gov/DBEFORMS .* A certifier may require an owner to provide additional information on a case-by-case basis to verify the accuracy and completeness of the PNW statement. The certifier must have a legitimate and demonstrable need for the additional information.
( c ) *Reporting.* The following rules apply without regard to State community property, equitable distribution, or similar rules. The owner reports assets and liabilities that she owns or is deemed to own. Ownership tracks title to the asset or obligor status on the liability except where otherwise provided or when the transaction results in evasion or abuse. ( 1 ) The owner excludes her ownership interest in the applicant or DBE.
( 2 ) The owner excludes her share of the equity in her primary residence. There is no exclusion when the SEDO does not own the home. Example 1 to paragraph (c)(2): The owner and her spouse hold joint title to their primary residence, for which they paid $300,000 and are coequal debtors on a bank mortgage and a home equity line of credit with current combined balances of $150,000. The owner may exclude her $75,000 share of the $150,000 of total equity.
( 3 ) The owner includes the full value of the contents of her primary residence unless she cohabits with a spouse or domestic partner, in which case she excludes only 50 percent of those assets.
( 4 ) The owner includes the value of all motor vehicles, including watercraft and ATVs, titled in her name or of which she is the principal operator.
( 5 ) The owner excludes the liabilities of any other party and those contingent on a future event or of undetermined value as of the date of the PNW Statement.
( 6 ) The owner includes her proportional share of the balance of a debt on which she shares joint and severable liability with other primary debtors. Example 2 to paragraph (c)(6): When the owner co-signs a debt instrument with two other individuals, the rule considers her liable for one-third of the current loan balance.
( 7 ) The owner includes assets transferred to relatives or related entities within the two years preceding any UCA or DOE, when the assets so transferred during the period have an aggregate value of more than $20,000. Relatives include the owner's spouse or domestic partner, children (whether biological, adopted or stepchildren), siblings (including stepsiblings and those of the spouse or domestic partner), and parents (including stepparents and those of the spouse or domestic partner). Related entities include for-profit privately held companies of which any relative is an owner, officer, director, or equivalent; and family or other trusts of which the owner or any relative is grantor, trustee, or beneficiary, except when the transfer is irrevocable.
( 8 ) The owner excludes direct payments, on behalf of immediate family members or their children, to unrelated providers of healthcare, education, or legal services.
( 9 ) The owner excludes direct payments to providers of goods and services directly related to a celebration of an immediate family member's or that family member's child's significant, normally non-recurring life event.
( 10 ) The owner excludes from net worth all assets in qualified retirement accounts but must report those accounts, the value of assets in them, and any significant terms and restrictions concerning the assets' use, to the certifier.
( d ) *Regulatory adjustments.* ( 1 ) The Department will adjust the PNW cap by May 9, 2027 by multiplying $1,600,000 by the growth in total household net worth since 2019 as described by “Financial Accounts of the United States: Balance Sheet of Households (Supplementary Table B.101.h)” produced by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (*https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/*), and normalized by the total number of households as collected by the Census in “Families and Living Arrangements” (*https://www.census.gov/topics/families/families-and-households.html*) to account for population growth. The Department will adjust the PNW cap every 3 years on the anniversary of the adjustment date described in this section. The Department will post the adjustments on the Departmental Office of Civil Rights' web page, available at *https://www.Transportation.gov/*DBEPNW. Each such adjustment will become the currently applicable PNW limit for purposes of this regulation.
( 2 ) The Department will use formula 1 to this paragraph (d)(2) to adjust the PNW limit:
Formula 1 to Paragraph (d)
( e ) *Confidentiality.* Notwithstanding any provision of Federal or State law, a certifier must not release an individual's PNW statement nor any documents pertaining to it to any third party without the written consent of the submitter. Provided, that you must transmit this information to DOT in any certification appeal proceeding under § 26.89 or to any other State to which the individual's firm has applied for certification under § 26.85.
[89 FR 24971, Apr. 9, 2024; 89 FR 55089, July 3, 2024]