CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
Interest income	$ 106,768,542	$ 106,716,344	$ 99,031,623
Other interest income, net	7,884,344
Interest expense	49,720,132	47,903,458	42,065,151
Net interest income	64,932,754	58,812,886	56,966,472
Other revenue:
Property operating income	27,666,252	32,641,249	30,127,260
Other income, net	270,360	1,645,465	2,290,714
Total other revenue	27,936,612	34,286,714	32,417,974
Other expenses:
Employee compensation and benefits	17,500,457	13,978,223	12,042,332
Selling and administrative	12,525,817	9,600,139	10,603,247
Property operating expenses	23,237,834	27,857,460	26,728,174
Depreciation and amortization	5,436,330	7,371,737	7,250,601
Impairment loss on real estate owned		250,000	1,000,000
Provision for loan losses (net of recoveries)	4,466,886	(308,511)	4,287,652
Management fee - related party	10,900,000	9,900,000	10,900,000
Total other expenses	74,067,324	68,649,048	72,812,006
Income before gain on acceleration of deferred income, loss on termination of swaps, gain on sale of real estate, gain on sale of equity interests, incentive management fee, gain on extinguishment of debt and income (loss) from equity affiliates	18,802,042	24,450,552	16,572,440
Gain on acceleration of deferred income	19,171,882
Loss on termination of swaps	(4,629,647)
Gain on sale of real estate	7,784,021	1,603,763
Gain on sale of equity interests		85,793,466
Incentive management fee - equity interest - related party		(19,047,949)
Gain on extinguishment of debt			(4,930,772)
Income (loss) from equity affiliates	12,300,516	248,658	(204,475)
Net income	53,428,814	93,048,490	21,298,737
Preferred stock dividends	7,553,720	7,256,255	4,506,583
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest			124,199
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 45,875,094	$ 85,792,235	$ 16,667,955
Basic earnings per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.90	$ 1.71	$ 0.39
Diluted earnings per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.90	$ 1.70	$ 0.39
Weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	50,857,750	50,143,648	42,399,872
Diluted (in shares)	51,007,328	50,368,344	42,835,144