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                                                                      EXHIBIT 31

             FIRST UNION REAL ESTATE EQUITY AND MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS
              FORM 10-Q FOR THE FISCAL QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 2003

                                 CERTIFICATIONS

      I, Neil H. Koenig, in the capacities indicated below, certify that

1.    I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of First Union Real
      Estate Equity and Mortgage Investments;

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.    I am responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and
      procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and
      internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act
      Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

      a)    designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
            disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under my
            supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
            registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known
            to me by others within those entities, particularly during the
            period in which this report is being prepared;

      b)    designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
            such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
            my supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
            reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
            statements for external purposes in accordance with generally
            accepted accounting principles;

      c)    evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
            and procedures and presented in this report my 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

      d)    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;
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5.    I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control
      over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
      committee of registrant's board of trustees:

      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 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:  August 14, 2003               /s/ Neil H. Koenig
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           Neil H. Koenig
                                           Interim Chief Executive Officer and
                                           Interim Chief Financial Officer