DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Details 10) (Lending Tree Loans, Discontinued operations, USD $)	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Buyer one	Dec. 31, 2011 Buyer one	Dec. 31, 2012 Buyer two	Dec. 31, 2011 Buyer two	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan loss obligations	Jan. 31, 2010 Loan loss obligations	Dec. 31, 2009 Loan loss obligations item	Sep. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations item	Dec. 31, 2011 Loan loss obligations item	Dec. 31, 2010 Loan loss obligations Buyer two item	Jun. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Buyer three	Jun. 30, 2012 Loan loss obligations Buyer four	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2012 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2011 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2010 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2009 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2008 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2007 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2006 item	Dec. 31, 2012 Loan loss obligations 2005 and prior years item
Loan Loss Obligations
Portion of the initial purchase price payment held in escrow for certain actual and/or contingent liabilities										$ 17,100,000
Reduction in loss reserve									6,500,000
Number of segments										4
Number of investors to whom loans are guaranteed	2
Original principal amount of loans related to indemnification		1,800,000,000	1,500,000,000							78,100,000
Unpaid principal balance				279,600,000	32,400,000
Weighted percentage for estimation of range of remaining loan losses in revised analysis										50.00%
Weighted percentage for estimation of range of remaining loan losses on other factor										25.00%
Number of loans sold										235,900					9,200	12,500	12,400	12,800	11,000	36,300	55,000	86,700
Original principal balance										39,400,000,000					1,900,000,000	2,700,000,000	2,800,000,000	2,800,000,000	2,200,000,000	6,100,000,000	7,900,000,000	13,000,000,000
Number of loans with losses										498						1	4	4	33	160	207	89
Original principal balance of loans with losses										68,100,000						300,000	1,100,000	900,000	6,900,000	22,100,000	24,500,000	12,300,000
Amount of aggregate losses										29,100,000						100,000	100,000	100,000	2,200,000	8,200,000	13,400,000	5,000,000
Number of requests for loan repurchases and indemnifications considered in determining the appropriate reserve amount										398	289
Percentage of full documentation first liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification										72.00%
Percentage of full documentation second liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification										2.00%
Percentage of limited documentation first liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification										23.00%
Percentage of limited documentation second liens of original principal amount of loans related to indemnification										3.00%
Number of buyers of previously purchased limited documentation loans with whom settlement negotiations are entered								2
Payment for settlement with buyers of previously purchased loans						1,900,000	4,500,000						500,000	3,300,000
Total settlement value												4,800,000
Additional amount of settlement payable to buyers of previously purchased loans is up to this amount											1,200,000	300,000
Number of quarterly installment payments												4
Number of settlements										4
Estimated range of remaining possible losses due to loan losses, minimum										18,000,000
Estimated range of remaining possible losses due to loan losses, maximum										34,000,000
Activity related to loss reserves on previously sold loans
Balance, beginning of period									31,512,000	31,512,000	16,984,000
Provisions (recoveries)										6,977,000	16,798,000
Change in estimate										(6,493,000)
Charge offs to reserves										(4,814,000)	(2,270,000)
Balance, end of period						$ 16,984,000				$ 27,182,000	$ 31,512,000