EQUITY (Details Textual) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended							3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Aug. 08, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 26, 2013	Aug. 16, 2013	Jul. 03, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Mar. 31, 2013 Mandatorily Redeemable Preferred Shares [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Perpetual Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Board of Directors Chairman [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 LIHTC Funds [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Sa Fund [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 IHS [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 IHS [Member]	Jul. 03, 2013 TE Bond Subsidiary LLC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Maximum [Member] LIHTC Funds [Member]	Sep. 30, 2013 Minimum [Member] LIHTC Funds [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary, LLC [Member] Mandatorily Redeemable Preferred Shares [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary, LLC [Member] Second Quarter of 2013 [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary, LLC [Member] Second Quarter of 2013 [Member] Series D Perpetual Preferred Share [Member]	Jun. 30, 2013 MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary, LLC [Member] Second Quarter of 2013 [Member] Series C-1 Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Shares [Member]
Common Stock Equivalents Employee Options				2,128,125		850,000
Incremental Common Shares Attributable to Call Options and Warrants		1,470,198	75,508	1,373,840		206,967
Incremental Common Shares Attributable to Dilutive Effect of Equity Unit Purchase Agreements		156,251		69,826
Unvested Employee Deferred Shares				260,417
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount		302,287	1,512,031	456,803		1,060,535
Stock Repurchased During Period, Value													$ 1,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Number of Shares Authorized to be Repurchased							5,000,000	4,000,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Remaining Number of Shares Authorized to be Repurchased		386,236		386,236			800,000	800,000
Equity Issuance, Per Share Amount				$ 1.31
Equity, Fair Value Adjustment																		3,000,000
Preferred Stock, Liquidation Preference, Value (in dollars)									121,000,000	159,000,000	43,200,000	27,000,000						118,000,000			74,000,000	9,500,000	6,000,000	5,000,000
Preferred Stock, Dividend Rate, Percentage				14.40%							7.50%	8.50%									5.00%
Stockholders Equity, Period Increase (Decrease)				(3,022,000)	[1]																	1,200,000
Proceeds from Issuance of Preferred Stock and Preference Stock																						1,500,000
Preferred Stock Redemption Discount																						300,000
Limited Liability Company (LLC) or Limited Partnership (LP), Members or Limited Partners, Ownership Interest															2.70%	17.00%	17.00%		0.04%	0.01%
Decline in LIHTC Funds' Investment Balance														33,600,000
Noncontrolling Interest, Period Increase (Decrease)														35,400,000	8,300,000
Proceeds from Noncontrolling Interests				8,051,000											7,400,000
Operating Income (Loss)															21,600,000
Translation Adjustment Functional to Reporting Currency, Loss (Gain), Reclassified to Earnings, Net of Tax															20,700,000
Foreign Currency Transaction Gain (Loss), before Tax															600,000
Reduction Due To Unamortized Issuance Discounts And Net Premiums Paid												$ 300,000
Stock Repurchase Program, Shares Authorized To Be Repurchased	the Company to purchase up to four million shares, and up to 800,000 shares in any one calendar month at a price up to 100% of its common shareholders equity per share as shown on its most recently filed periodic report.

[1] Represents the difference between the Company’s carrying value of the perpetual preferred shares on June 30, 2013 of $118.0 million as compared to the liquidation preference amount assumed in the sale on July 3, 2013 of $121.0 million.