Exhibit 31-1
                                 CERTIFICATIONS

I, Wilfred N.,Cooper, Jr. certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of WNC HOUSING TAX CREDITS
   III, L.P.;

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-15e and 15d-15e) 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 quarterly 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    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(s) and I have disclosed, based on
   our most recent evaluation of   internal control over financial reporting, to
   the  registrant's    independent  registered  public  accounting firm and the
   audit  committee  of    the  registrant's  board  of  directors  (or  persons
   performing the equivalent functions):

   (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 in the registrant'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  registrant's  internal
        control over financial reporting.

Date:  March 6, 2007




/s/ Wilfred N. Cooper, Jr.
--------------------------
President and Chief Executive Officer of WNC & Associates, Inc