FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   Kristjansson Gudmundur 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 01/01/2014 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol MFA FINANCIAL, INC. [MFA] (Last) (First) (Middle) C/O MFA FINANCIAL, INC., 350 PARK AVENUE, 20TH FLOOR 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) _____ Director _____ 10% Owner __X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) Senior Vice President 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) NEW YORK,, NY 10022 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) COMMON STOCK, PAR VALUE $0.01 PER SHARE 81,991 D   7.5% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock 2,250 D Â

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
Phantom Shares	  (1)	  (1)	Common Stock	35,000	$ (2)	D	Â
Phantom Shares	  (3)	  (3)	Common Stock	17,500	$ (2)	D	Â

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
Kristjansson Gudmundur C/O MFA FINANCIAL, INC. 350 PARK AVENUE, 20TH FLOOR NEW YORK,, NY 10022	Â	Â	  Senior Vice President	Â

Signatures

/s/Gudmundur Kristjansson		01/10/2014
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	These phantom shares are scheduled to vest, subject to forfeiture, on December 31, 2014, and thereafter will be settled in an equivalent number of shares of MFA common stock on the earlier of termination of service with MFA or January 4, 2016.
(2)	Each phantom share represents the right to receive one share of MFA Financial, Inc. common stock.
(3)	These phantom shares are scheduled to vest subject to forfeiture, on December 31, 2014 (subject to MFA's achievement of specified performance goals), and thereafter will be settled in an equivalent number of shares of MFA common stock on the earlier of termination of service with MFA or January 4, 2016.

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