EXHIBIT 31.1
                                 CERTIFICATIONS
        (As Adopted Under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002)

I, Gary A. Shiffman, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Sun Communities
   Operating Limited Partnership;

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
   registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this 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-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and we
   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 registrant,
        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 registrant'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 registrant's internal control
        over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
        recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the
        case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
        likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over
        financial reporting; and

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.

Date: November 13, 2003              /s/ Gary A. Shiffman
                                     -------------------------------------------
                                     Gary A. Shiffman, Chief Executive Officer,
                                     of Sun Communities, Inc., the General
                                     Partner