Consolidated Variable Interest Entities (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended					9 Months Ended					6 Months Ended		9 Months Ended							9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014 Entity	Mar. 31, 2014 Entity		Sep. 30, 2013 Entity		Sep. 30, 2014 Entity		Sep. 30, 2013 Entity		Dec. 31, 2013 Entity	Jun. 30, 2013 Flagstar Entity		Sep. 30, 2013 Flagstar	Sep. 30, 2014 Total first lien	Dec. 31, 2013 Total first lien	Sep. 30, 2014 Second lien	Dec. 31, 2013 Second lien	Sep. 30, 2014 Other VIE with recourse	Dec. 31, 2013 Other VIE with recourse	Sep. 30, 2014 Deconsolidation of variable interest entity	Sep. 30, 2014 Exercise of option to accelerate variable interest entity
Consolidated VIEs
Net fair value gains and losses on FG VIEs are expected to reverse to zero at maturity of the VIE debt	$ 0					$ 0
Number of VIE that did not require consolidation	970					970				1,000
Consolidated Variable Interest Entities [Roll Forward]
Number of FG VIEs, beginning of period		40				40		33
Variable Interest Entity, Number of Entities to be Consolidated						1	[1]	11	[1]
Variable Interest Entity, Number of Entities to be Deconsolidated		(7)	[1]	(1)	[1]	(8)	[1]	(3)	[1]		(2)	[1]
Variable Interest Entity Number Matured						(2)		(1)
Number of FG VIEs, end of period	31			40		31		40
VIE, net gain on deconsolidation						120,000,000
VIE, net loss on consolidation and deconsolidation								7,000,000
Credit Risk Derivatives at Fair Value before Effect of Credit Spread Net 1 [Abstract]
Number of days VIEs' assets were past due (in days)						90 days
Total unpaid principal balance for the VIEs' assets that were over 90 days or more past due	188,000,000					188,000,000				750,000,000
Difference between the aggregate unpaid principal and aggregate fair value of the VIEs' Assets	847,000,000					847,000,000				1,940,000,000
Change in the instrument specific credit risk of the VIEs' assets	86,000,000			83,000,000		140,000,000		252,000,000
Unpaid principle for FG VIE liabilities with recourse	1,743,000,000					1,743,000,000				2,316,000,000
Difference between the aggregate unpaid principal and aggregate fair value of the VIEs' liabilities	673,000,000					673,000,000				1,611,000,000
Assets	1,296,000,000					1,296,000,000				2,565,000,000				519,000,000	630,000,000	249,000,000	460,000,000	373,000,000	359,000,000
Total with recourse , Assets	1,141,000,000					1,141,000,000				1,449,000,000
Without recourse, Assets	155,000,000					155,000,000				1,116,000,000
Liabilities	1,459,000,000					1,459,000,000				2,871,000,000				600,000,000	791,000,000	353,000,000	640,000,000	373,000,000	359,000,000
Financial guaranty variable interest entities’ liabilities with recourse, at fair value	1,326,000,000					1,326,000,000				1,790,000,000
Financial guaranty variable interest entities’ liabilities without recourse, at fair value	133,000,000					133,000,000				1,081,000,000
Net change in fair value of financial guaranty variable interest entities:
Net earned premiums	(5,000,000)			(14,000,000)		(27,000,000)		(47,000,000)
Net investment income	(2,000,000)			(3,000,000)		(8,000,000)		(10,000,000)
Net realized investment gains (losses)	0			0		(5,000,000)		2,000,000
Fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs	50,000,000			40,000,000		232,000,000		253,000,000					213,000,000							120,000,000	37,000,000
Other income	0			0		(2,000,000)		0
Loss and LAE	14,000,000			11,000,000		21,000,000		26,000,000
Effect on net income before tax provision	57,000,000			34,000,000		211,000,000		224,000,000
Less: tax provision (benefit)	20,000,000			12,000,000		74,000,000		78,000,000
Effect on net income (loss)	37,000,000			22,000,000		137,000,000		146,000,000
Effect on cash flows from operating activities	18,000,000			(2,000,000)		57,000,000		(143,000,000)
Effect on shareholders’ equity (decrease) increase	$ (53,000,000)					$ (53,000,000)				$ (172,000,000)

[1] Net gain on deconsolidation was $120 million in Nine Months 2014, and a net loss on consolidation and deconsolidation was $7 million in Nine Months 2013, and recorded in “fair value gains (losses) on FG VIEs” in the consolidated statement of operations.