Published on February 13, 2009
Exhibit
31.2
CERTIFICATIONS
I,
William S. Gorin, certify that:
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1.
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I
have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of MFA Financial, Inc. (the
“Registrant”);
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2.
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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;
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3.
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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;
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4.
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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)) and internal controls over financial reporting (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Registrant and
have:
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a)
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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;
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b)
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Designed
such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal
control over financial reporting to be designed under our 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;
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c)
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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
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d)
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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
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5.
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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 the Registrant’s board of
directors:
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a)
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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
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b)
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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.
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Date: February
13, 2009
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By:
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/s/ William S. Gorin | |
| William S. Gorin | ||
| Title: |
President
and Chief Financial Officer
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