Exhibit 31.1
                                  CERTIFICATION
                          PURSUANT TO 17 CFR 240.13a-14
                                PROMULGATED UNDER
                  SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Stephen J. Benedetti, certify that:

1)   I have reviewed this report on Form 10-Q of Merit Securities Corporation;

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 of financial reporting; and

5)   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and I  have disclosed, based
     on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
     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  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.


Dated:  August 20, 2004             By:        /s/ Stephen J. Benedetti
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             Stephen J. Benedetti
                                             Principal Executive Officer