PRESS RELEASE                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2003                                          NEW YORK METRO
CONTACT: William Gorin                                  NYSE: MFA
(212) 207-6400                                          www.mfa-reit.com

MFA Announces Retirement of Michael Yanney as Chairman of the Board

     MFA Mortgage Investments, Inc. (NYSE:MFA) today announced the retirement of
Michael  B.  Yanney  from its Board of  Directors  where he served as  Chairman.
Stewart  Zimmerman,  CEO and President and a director of MFA, has been appointed
by the Board to replace Mr. Yanney as Chairman of the Board.

     Mr. Yanney stated that "One of the  responsibilities  of an entrepreneur is
to pass the baton to a person  who is  capable  of  taking  the  Company  to new
horizons.  As I reach my 70th  birthday,  I am  happy to be able to leave  MFA's
Board with the knowledge that I leave behind a strong management team."

     Mr. Zimmerman commented that, "We appreciate the efforts of Mike Yanney and
the service he has  rendered to MFA as its  Chairman of the Board since it began
operations in 1998. We have been grateful for his wise counsel."

     MFA's  strategy  is to  generate a high level of income  while  maintaining
asset  quality  through  leveraged  investment  in a portfolio  of  high-quality
adjustable-rate   mortgage-backed  securities  and  other  assets.  At  December
31,2002,  MFA had total  assets  approximating  $3.6  billion.  As of that date,
approximately 98% of these assets consisted of mortgage-backed securities issued
or guaranteed by an agency of the United States government, such as Freddie Mac,
Fannie Mae or Ginnie Mae, high quality mortgage-backed securities rated "AAA" by
at least one nationally recognized rating agency and cash.


Information   contained  in  this  Press   Release   contains   "forward-looking
statements"  relating to,  without  limitation,  future  performance,  plans and
objectives of management for future  operations  and  projections of revenue and
other  financial  items,  which can be identified by the use of  forward-looking
terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate,"  "estimate"
or "continue" or the negative thereof or other variations  thereon or comparable
terminology.  Several factors with respect to such  forward-looking  statements,
including certain risks and uncertainties,  could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in such forward-looking statements.