Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
ASSETS
Available-for-sale securities, at fair value (includes pledged securities of $1,309,061,643 and $876,121,505 for September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively)	[1]	$ 1,304,486,040	$ 870,929,601
Mortgage loans held-for-sale, at fair value	[1]	495,486	2,849,536
Multi-family loans held in securitization trusts, at fair value	[1]	1,149,888,917	1,222,905,433
Residential loans held in securitization trusts, at fair value	[1]	125,403,499	141,126,720
Mortgage servicing rights, at fair value	[1]	2,993,997	3,440,809
Cash and cash equivalents	[1]	30,554,867	27,534,374
Restricted cash	[1]	15,437,341	10,355,222
Deferred offering costs	[1]	78,432	96,489
Accrued interest receivable	[1]	8,732,428	7,619,717
Investment related receivable	[1]	4,699,021	3,914,458
Derivative assets, at fair value	[1]	0	8,053,813
Other assets	[1]	912,719	775,031
Total assets	[1]	2,643,682,747	2,299,601,203
Repurchase agreements:
Available-for-sale securities	[1]	1,237,661,000	804,811,000
Multi-family securitized debt obligations	[1]	1,128,773,402	1,204,583,678
Residential securitized debt obligations	[1]	119,882,464	134,846,348
Accrued interest payable	[1]	5,205,165	5,467,916
Derivative liabilities, at fair value	[1]	529,075	0
Dividends payable	[1]	29,349	39,132
Deferred income	[1]	202,896	203,743
Due to broker	[1]	0	4,244,678
Fees and expenses payable to Manager	[1]	587,000	880,000
Other accounts payable and accrued expenses	[1]	273,732	2,057,843
Total liabilities	[1]	2,493,144,083	2,157,134,338
Commitments and contingencies
STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY:
Preferred Stock: par value $0.01 per share; 50,000,000 shares authorized, 8.75% Series A cumulative redeemable, $25 liquidation preference, 1,610,000 and 1,610,000 issued and outstanding at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	[1]	37,156,972	37,156,972
Common Stock: par value $0.01 per share; 450,000,000 shares authorized, 22,139,258 and 17,539,258 shares issued and outstanding, at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively	[1]	221,393	175,348
Additional paid-in capital	[1]	224,063,268	204,264,868
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	[1]	(3,206,409)	(6,831,940)
Cumulative distributions to stockholders	[1]	(100,438,604)	(89,224,194)
Accumulated earnings (deficit)	[1]	(7,257,956)	(3,074,189)
Total stockholders' equity	[1]	150,538,664	142,466,865
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	[1]	$ 2,643,682,747	$ 2,299,601,203

[1] Our consolidated balance sheets include assets and liabilities of consolidated variable interest entities ("VIEs") as the Company is the primary beneficiary of these VIEs. As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, assets of consolidated VIEs totaled $1,280,093,874 and $1,369,120,941 respectively, and the liabilities of consolidated VIEs totaled $1,253,353,428 and $1,344,404,080 respectively