Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($) segment	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)
Segment reporting
Number of Reportable Segments | segment			4
Interest income
Loans, held-for-investment	$ 28,507	$ 30,777	$ 58,607	$ 63,109
Loans, held at fair value	2,204	2,660	3,829	6,022
Loans, held for sale, at fair value	1,638		3,072
Mortgage backed securities, at fair value	899	1,064	1,622	3,237
Total interest income	33,248	34,501	67,130	72,368
Interest expense
Securitized debt obligations of consolidated VIEs	(4,761)	(4,530)	(9,883)	(9,071)
Borrowings under repurchase agreements	(4,048)	(3,687)	(8,269)	(7,546)
Guaranteed loan financing	(3,520)	(3,414)	(6,784)	(7,363)
Borrowings under credit facilities	(3,058)	(2,078)	(6,035)	(4,030)
Senior secured note	(1,777)		(2,568)
Promissory note payable	(66)	(67)	(134)	(67)
Total interest expense	(17,230)	(13,776)	(33,673)	(28,077)
Net interest income before provision for loan losses	16,018	20,725	33,457	44,291
Provision for loan losses	(159)	(2,017)	(1,391)	(4,201)
Net interest income after provision for loan losses	15,859	18,708	32,066	40,090
Non-interest income (expense)
Residential mortgage banking activities, net	10,985		21,495
Other income (loss)	1,588	1,299	2,429	3,607
Servicing income	5,631	1,347	10,074	2,760
Employee compensation and benefits	(13,451)	(4,112)	(26,915)	(9,182)
Allocated employee compensation and benefits from related party	(1,008)	(900)	(2,020)	(1,800)
Professional fees	(2,023)	(3,677)	(4,182)	(5,453)
Management fees – related party	(2,007)	(1,833)	(3,984)	(3,671)
Loan servicing expense	(2,611)	(1,185)	(4,126)	(2,061)
Other operating expenses	(6,206)	(3,818)	(11,736)	(7,681)
Total non-interest income (expense)	(9,102)	(12,879)	(18,965)	(23,481)
Net realized gain (loss) on financial instruments	4,491	1,075	7,456	1,266
Net unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments	974	2,602	2,257	2,266
Income (loss) from continued operations before provision for income taxes	12,222	9,506	22,814	20,141
Provision for income taxes	(1,069)	(858)	(2,104)	(2,029)
Net income from continuing operations	11,153	8,648	20,710	18,112
Loss from discontinued operations				(351)
Net income	11,153	8,648	20,710	17,761
Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interest	657	703	1,358	1,440
Net income attributable to Sutherland Asset Management Corporation	10,496	7,945	19,352	16,321
Total Assets	2,446,920	2,147,305	2,446,920	2,147,305
Loan Acquisitions
Interest income
Loans, held-for-investment	16,590	17,391	35,157	35,254
Loans, held at fair value	613	588	876	1,173
Loans, held for sale, at fair value	373		794
Mortgage backed securities, at fair value	899	1,064	1,622	3,237
Total interest income	18,475	19,043	38,449	39,664
Interest expense
Securitized debt obligations of consolidated VIEs	(4,492)	(4,149)	(9,316)	(8,266)
Borrowings under repurchase agreements	(2,596)	(1,895)	(5,612)	(4,164)
Borrowings under credit facilities	(1,584)	(1,616)	(3,260)	(3,088)
Promissory note payable	(66)	(67)	(134)	(67)
Total interest expense	(8,738)	(7,727)	(18,322)	(15,585)
Net interest income before provision for loan losses	9,737	11,316	20,127	24,079
Provision for loan losses	(102)	(1,345)	(724)	(3,522)
Net interest income after provision for loan losses	9,635	9,971	19,403	20,557
Non-interest income (expense)
Other income (loss)	754	310	889	897
Servicing income	26	20	32	35
Employee compensation and benefits	5	(191)	(616)	(191)
Allocated employee compensation and benefits from related party	179	(551)	(405)	(1,054)
Professional fees	(188)	(1,865)	(1,232)	(2,588)
Management fees – related party	(1,156)	(1,122)	(2,296)	(2,149)
Loan servicing expense	(997)	(1,367)	(1,897)	(2,419)
Other operating expenses	(390)	(876)	(1,981)	(2,138)
Total non-interest income (expense)	(1,767)	(5,642)	(7,506)	(9,607)
Net realized gain (loss) on financial instruments	396	(169)	986	(2,440)
Net unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments	863	1,509	1,469	3,232
Income (loss) from continued operations before provision for income taxes	9,127	5,669	14,352	11,742
Provision for income taxes	452		554
Net income from continuing operations				11,742
Net income	9,579	5,669	14,906
Total Assets	1,253,880	1,241,579	1,253,880	1,241,579
SBC Conventional Originations
Interest income
Loans, held-for-investment	2,140	1,445	3,330	2,067
Loans, held at fair value	1,591	2,072	2,953	4,849
Loans, held for sale, at fair value	241		424
Total interest income	3,972	3,517	6,707	6,916
Interest expense
Borrowings under repurchase agreements	(1,452)	(1,792)	(2,657)	(3,382)
Borrowings under credit facilities	(170)		(360)
Senior secured note	(1,777)		(2,568)
Total interest expense	(3,399)	(1,792)	(5,585)	(3,382)
Net interest income before provision for loan losses	573	1,725	1,122	3,534
Provision for loan losses	12		(84)
Net interest income after provision for loan losses	585	1,725	1,038	3,534
Non-interest income (expense)
Other income (loss)	1,022	973	1,577	1,289
Servicing income	139	190	(363)	310
Employee compensation and benefits	(1,890)	(2,169)	(3,916)	(4,453)
Allocated employee compensation and benefits from related party	(615)	(181)	(757)	(401)
Professional fees	(579)	(619)	(907)	(824)
Management fees – related party	(282)	(369)	(559)	(819)
Loan servicing expense	(288)	(115)	(535)	(240)
Other operating expenses	(2,090)	(1,774)	(3,894)	(3,533)
Total non-interest income (expense)	(4,583)	(4,064)	(9,354)	(8,671)
Net realized gain (loss) on financial instruments	1,740	313	3,060	1,770
Net unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments	1,782	1,093	2,800	(966)
Income (loss) from continued operations before provision for income taxes	(476)	(933)	(2,456)	(4,333)
Provision for income taxes	5	755	265	2,490
Net income from continuing operations				(1,843)
Net income	(471)	(178)	(2,191)
Total Assets	345,597	244,983	345,597	244,983
SBA Loan Origination, Acquisitions, and Servicing
Interest income
Loans, held-for-investment	9,752	11,941	19,895	25,788
Total interest income	9,752	11,941	19,895	25,788
Interest expense
Securitized debt obligations of consolidated VIEs	(269)	(381)	(567)	(805)
Guaranteed loan financing	(3,520)	(3,414)	(6,784)	(7,363)
Borrowings under credit facilities	(477)	(462)	(902)	(942)
Total interest expense	(4,266)	(4,257)	(8,253)	(9,110)
Net interest income before provision for loan losses	5,486	7,684	11,642	16,678
Provision for loan losses	(69)	(672)	(583)	(679)
Net interest income after provision for loan losses	5,417	7,012	11,059	15,999
Non-interest income (expense)
Other income (loss)	(222)	16	(89)	1,421
Servicing income	1,246	1,137	2,043	2,415
Employee compensation and benefits	(2,488)	(1,752)	(4,687)	(4,538)
Allocated employee compensation and benefits from related party	(595)	(168)	(757)	(345)
Professional fees	(868)	(1,193)	(1,355)	(2,041)
Management fees – related party	(322)	(342)	(639)	(703)
Loan servicing expense	479	297	1,587	598
Other operating expenses	(1,470)	(1,168)	(2,355)	(2,010)
Total non-interest income (expense)	(4,240)	(3,173)	(6,252)	(5,203)
Net realized gain (loss) on financial instruments	2,355	931	3,410	1,936
Net unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments			212
Income (loss) from continued operations before provision for income taxes	3,532	4,770	8,429	12,732
Provision for income taxes	(1,270)	(1,613)	(2,177)	(4,519)
Net income from continuing operations				8,213
Net income	2,262	3,157	6,252
Total Assets	530,482	$ 660,744	530,482	$ 660,744
Residential Mortgage Banking
Interest income
Loans, held-for-investment	25		225
Loans, held for sale, at fair value	1,024		1,854
Total interest income	1,049		2,079
Interest expense
Borrowings under credit facilities	(827)		(1,513)
Total interest expense	(827)		(1,513)
Net interest income before provision for loan losses	222		566
Net interest income after provision for loan losses	222		566
Non-interest income (expense)
Residential mortgage banking activities, net	10,985		21,495
Other income (loss)	34		52
Servicing income	4,220		8,362
Employee compensation and benefits	(9,078)		(17,696)
Allocated employee compensation and benefits from related party	23		(101)
Professional fees	(388)		(688)
Management fees – related party	(247)		(490)
Loan servicing expense	(1,805)		(3,281)
Other operating expenses	(2,256)		(3,506)
Total non-interest income (expense)	1,488		4,147
Net unrealized gain (loss) on financial instruments	(1,671)		(2,224)
Income (loss) from continued operations before provision for income taxes	39		2,489
Provision for income taxes	(256)		(746)
Net income	(217)		1,743
Total Assets	$ 316,961		$ 316,961