Affidavit of Eligibility

For DBEs, 49 CFR 26.83 requires the socially and economically disadvantaged owner to sign the Declaration of Eligibility at the end of the Uniform Certification Application, subscribed as true under penalty of perjury that all information is current, accurate and complete. Every year on the anniversary of certification, the DBE files a new DOE with gross receipts for its most recent fiscal year, calculated on a cash basis. Audited financial statements, a CPA's signed attestation, or the income portions of signed federal tax returns as filed are treated as safe harbors. Missing or partial filings count as a failure to cooperate under 26.109(c).

SBA's 8(a) program has a parallel annual step. Under 13 CFR 124.112(b), each participant certifies at its annual review that it still meets the eligibility rules and that no changed circumstances could adversely affect eligibility, and it must tell SBA in writing about changes, especially to economic disadvantage, ownership or control. Private certifiers do the same: WBENC requires a Sworn Affidavit with the application and a renewed one at each annual recertification.

The penalties attach to the statement. Under 49 CFR 26.107, USDOT may start suspension or debarment against a firm that seeks DBE status on false statements, and against a firm that uses an ineligible firm to meet DBE goals on the basis of false statements, and may refer anyone who makes a false statement to the Department of Justice for prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 1001.

Read every attestation before signing: it covers ownership, control, size and disadvantage facts across the whole file, not only the page you sign. Put the DBE certification anniversary, the 8(a) annual review and the WBENC renewal on the calendar, since a missed DOE is a failure to cooperate. When ownership, control or finances change, report it to the certifier promptly in writing rather than waiting for the next renewal.