Separate Financial Information of Subsidiary Guarantors of Indebtedness - Schedule of Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities	$ (204,270)	$ (1,810,475)	$ 69,620
Investing activities
Purchases and originations of reverse loans held for investment	(1,505,215)	(3,020,937)	(594,315)
Principal payments received on reverse loans held for investment	548,660	372,375	29,658
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Residual Trusts	103,637	108,274	97,038
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Non-Residual Trusts	58,620	61,385	62,884
Payments received on charged-off loans held for investment	14,929	0	0
Payments received on receivables related to Non-Residual Trusts	9,471	14,804	16,096
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Residual Trusts	10,842	7,730	7,861
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Non-Residual Trusts and other	44,464	30,694	11,383
Purchases of premises and equipment	(21,573)	(38,639)	(11,408)
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents	11,333	(8,156)	41,332
Payments for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	(197,061)	(492,283)	(103,592)
Acquisitions of servicing rights	(268,618)	(797,165)	(5,539)
Sales of servicing rights	9,499	0	0
Acquisitions of charged-off loans held for investment	(64,548)	0	0
Capital contributions to subsidiaries and variable interest entities	0	0	0
Returns of capital from subsidiaries and variable interest entities	0	0	0
Change in due from affiliates	0	0	0
Other	1,449	(14,165)	(2,751)
Cash flows used in investing activities	(1,244,111)	(3,776,083)	(451,353)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of corporate debt, net of debt issuance costs	0	3,106,263	957,037
Payments on corporate debt	(17,220)	(362,931)	(75,292)
Debt prepayment penalty	0	0	(29,440)
Proceeds from securitizations of reverse loans	1,617,399	3,216,096	583,925
Payments on HMBS related obligations	(637,272)	(409,331)	(33,496)
Issuances of servicing advance liabilities	2,299,930	1,604,272	263,833
Payments on servicing advance liabilities	(1,905,331)	(733,150)	(270,708)
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to mortgage loans	75,726	929,015	6,055
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to reverse loans	15,667	(98,837)	11,832
Proceeds from sale of excess servicing spread	75,426	0	0
Payments on excess servicing spread liability	(6,822)	0	0
Other debt issuance costs paid	(17,281)	(9,833)	(7,192)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Residual Trusts	(104,542)	(112,449)	(98,105)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Non-Residual Trusts	(76,613)	(87,920)	(92,716)
Extinguishments and settlement of debt and mortgage-backed debt	0	(1,405,424)	(690,000)
Secondary equity offering, net of issuance costs	0	0	276,013
Capital contributions	0	0	0
Capital distributions	0	0	0
Change in due to affiliates	0	0	0
Other	(42,396)	618	3,302
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities	1,276,671	5,636,389	805,048
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(171,710)	49,831	423,315
Cash and cash equivalents	320,175	491,885	442,054
Parent Company [Member]
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities	(74,452)	(99,050)	(78,619)
Investing activities
Purchases and originations of reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Residual Trusts	535	84	148
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments received on charged-off loans held for investment	0
Payments received on receivables related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Residual Trusts	227	254	670
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Non-Residual Trusts and other	0	0	0
Purchases of premises and equipment	0	0	0
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents	4,246	(752)	31,175
Payments for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	(477,021)	(130,000)
Acquisitions of servicing rights	0	0	0
Sales of servicing rights	0
Acquisitions of charged-off loans held for investment	0
Capital contributions to subsidiaries and variable interest entities	(83,544)	(331,107)	(31,118)
Returns of capital from subsidiaries and variable interest entities	76,214	37,796	37,536
Change in due from affiliates	88,360	(688,070)	12,469
Other	(2,283)	(15,200)	0
Cash flows used in investing activities	83,755	(1,474,016)	(79,120)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of corporate debt, net of debt issuance costs	0	3,106,263	962,524
Payments on corporate debt	(15,000)	(360,826)	(65,000)
Debt prepayment penalty	0	0	(29,440)
Proceeds from securitizations of reverse loans	0	0	0
Payments on HMBS related obligations	0	0	0
Issuances of servicing advance liabilities	0	0	0
Payments on servicing advance liabilities	0	0	0
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to mortgage loans	0	0	0
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to reverse loans	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of excess servicing spread	0
Payments on excess servicing spread liability	0
Other debt issuance costs paid	0	(1,936)	(6,179)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Extinguishments and settlement of debt and mortgage-backed debt	0	(1,405,424)	(690,000)
Secondary equity offering, net of issuance costs	0	0	276,013
Capital contributions	0	0	0
Capital distributions	0	0	0
Change in due to affiliates	(98,071)	(29,618)	72,588
Other	6,921	(1,777)	3,076
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities	(106,150)	1,306,682	523,582
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(96,847)	(266,384)	365,843
Cash and cash equivalents	3,162	100,009	366,393
Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities	1,005,449	(1,741,415)	118,733
Investing activities
Purchases and originations of reverse loans held for investment	(1,505,215)	(3,020,937)	(594,315)
Principal payments received on reverse loans held for investment	548,660	372,375	29,658
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Residual Trusts	399	458	124
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments received on charged-off loans held for investment	14,929
Payments received on receivables related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Residual Trusts	244	80	319
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Non-Residual Trusts and other	39,208	23,184	3,198
Purchases of premises and equipment	(21,573)	(38,639)	(11,408)
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents	3,723	(7,282)	1,931
Payments for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	(197,061)	(15,262)	0
Acquisitions of servicing rights	(268,618)	(797,165)	(5,539)
Sales of servicing rights	9,499
Acquisitions of charged-off loans held for investment	(64,548)
Capital contributions to subsidiaries and variable interest entities	(131)	(16,010)	(4,195)
Returns of capital from subsidiaries and variable interest entities	28,085	30,307	2,257
Change in due from affiliates	214,613	(65,619)	(204,144)
Other	3,732	1,035	(2,751)
Cash flows used in investing activities	(1,194,054)	(3,533,475)	(784,865)
Financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of corporate debt, net of debt issuance costs		0	0
Payments on corporate debt	(2,220)	(2,105)	(10,292)
Debt prepayment penalty			0
Proceeds from securitizations of reverse loans	1,617,399	3,216,096	583,925
Payments on HMBS related obligations	(637,272)	(409,331)	(33,496)
Issuances of servicing advance liabilities	874,729	1,597,043	242,080
Payments on servicing advance liabilities	(1,572,482)	(729,274)	(264,771)
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to mortgage loans	75,726	929,015	6,055
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to reverse loans	15,667	(98,837)	11,832
Proceeds from sale of excess servicing spread	75,426
Payments on excess servicing spread liability	(6,822)
Other debt issuance costs paid	(17,264)	(7,897)	(188)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Extinguishments and settlement of debt and mortgage-backed debt		0	0
Secondary equity offering, net of issuance costs			0
Capital contributions	83,544	331,107	32,011
Capital distributions	(24,874)	(10,837)	(4,225)
Change in due to affiliates	(329,277)	772,554	161,134
Other	(40,509)	2,007	226
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities	111,771	5,589,541	724,291
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(76,834)	314,651	58,159
Cash and cash equivalents	311,810	388,644	73,993
Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries and VIEs [Member]
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities	(1,137,754)	29,860	25,633
Investing activities
Purchases and originations of reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Residual Trusts	102,703	107,732	96,766
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Non-Residual Trusts	58,620	61,385	62,884
Payments received on charged-off loans held for investment	0
Payments received on receivables related to Non-Residual Trusts	9,471	14,804	16,096
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Residual Trusts	10,371	7,396	6,872
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Non-Residual Trusts and other	5,256	7,510	8,185
Purchases of premises and equipment	0	0	0
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents	3,364	(122)	8,226
Payments for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	0
Acquisitions of servicing rights	0	0	0
Sales of servicing rights	0
Acquisitions of charged-off loans held for investment	0
Capital contributions to subsidiaries and variable interest entities	0	0	0
Returns of capital from subsidiaries and variable interest entities	0	0	0
Change in due from affiliates	250,108	(78,976)	(174,258)
Other	0	0	0
Cash flows used in investing activities	439,893	119,729	24,771
Financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of corporate debt, net of debt issuance costs		0	0
Payments on corporate debt	0	0	0
Debt prepayment penalty			0
Proceeds from securitizations of reverse loans	0	0	0
Payments on HMBS related obligations	0	0	0
Issuances of servicing advance liabilities	1,425,201	7,229	21,753
Payments on servicing advance liabilities	(332,849)	(3,876)	(5,937)
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to mortgage loans	0	0	0
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to reverse loans	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of excess servicing spread	0
Payments on excess servicing spread liability	0
Other debt issuance costs paid	(17)	0	(825)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Residual Trusts	(104,542)	(112,449)	(98,105)
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Non-Residual Trusts	(76,613)	(87,920)	(92,716)
Extinguishments and settlement of debt and mortgage-backed debt		0	0
Secondary equity offering, net of issuance costs			0
Capital contributions	131	16,010	29,710
Capital distributions	(79,425)	(57,266)	(35,568)
Change in due to affiliates	(123,246)	90,284	130,597
Other	(8,808)	(37)	0
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities	699,832	(148,025)	(51,091)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	1,971	1,564	(687)
Cash and cash equivalents	5,203	3,232	1,668
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Condensed Cash Flow Statements, Captions [Line Items]
Cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities	2,487	130	3,873
Investing activities
Purchases and originations of reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on reverse loans held for investment	0	0	0
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Principal payments received on mortgage loans related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments received on charged-off loans held for investment	0
Payments received on receivables related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Cash proceeds from sales of real estate owned, net related to Non-Residual Trusts and other	0	0	0
Purchases of premises and equipment	0	0	0
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Payments for acquisitions of businesses, net of cash acquired	0	0	26,408
Acquisitions of servicing rights	0	0	0
Sales of servicing rights	0
Acquisitions of charged-off loans held for investment	0
Capital contributions to subsidiaries and variable interest entities	83,675	347,117	35,313
Returns of capital from subsidiaries and variable interest entities	(104,299)	(68,103)	(39,793)
Change in due from affiliates	(553,081)	832,665	365,933
Other	0	0	0
Cash flows used in investing activities	(573,705)	1,111,679	387,861
Financing activities
Proceeds from issuance of corporate debt, net of debt issuance costs		0	(5,487)
Payments on corporate debt	0	0	0
Debt prepayment penalty			0
Proceeds from securitizations of reverse loans	0	0	0
Payments on HMBS related obligations	0	0	0
Issuances of servicing advance liabilities	0	0	0
Payments on servicing advance liabilities	0	0	0
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to mortgage loans	0	0	0
Net change in warehouse borrowings related to reverse loans	0	0	0
Proceeds from sale of excess servicing spread	0
Payments on excess servicing spread liability	0
Other debt issuance costs paid	0	0	0
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Payments on mortgage-backed debt related to Non-Residual Trusts	0	0	0
Extinguishments and settlement of debt and mortgage-backed debt		0	0
Secondary equity offering, net of issuance costs			0
Capital contributions	(83,675)	(347,117)	(61,721)
Capital distributions	104,299	68,103	39,793
Change in due to affiliates	550,594	(833,220)	(364,319)
Other	0	425	0
Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities	571,218	(1,111,809)	(391,734)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0