Exhibit 99.1

                                 CERTIFICATIONS


I, Edward E. Cohen, certify that:

1.      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Resource America,
        Inc.;
2.      Based on my knowledge, this quarterly 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 quarterly report;
3.      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
        information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
        material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
        cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
        this quarterly report;
4.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
        establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
        defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and
        we have:
         a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures to ensure
               that material information relating to the registrant,
               including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us
               by others within those entities, particularly during the
               period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;
         b)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
               controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to
               the filing date of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation
               Date"); and
         c)    presented in this quarterly report our conclusions about the
               effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based
               on our evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;
5.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
        our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
        committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the
        equivalent function):
         a)    all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
               internal controls which could adversely affect the
               registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report
               financial data and have identified for the registrant's
               auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and
         b)    any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
               or other employees who have a significant role in the
               registrant's internal controls; and
6.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I have indicated in this
        quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes in
        internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect
        internal controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation,
        including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies
        and material weaknesses.


                  Date:  October 31, 2003
                  /s/ Edward E. Cohen
                  Edward E. Cohen
                  Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer