Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets - USD ($)		Mar. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
ASSETS
Available-for-sale securities, at fair value (includes pledged securities of $1,099,341,757 and $1,295,225,428 for March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively)	[1]	$ 1,095,189,264	$ 1,290,825,648
Multi-family loans held in securitization trusts, at fair value	[1]	1,106,592,612	1,130,874,274
Residential loans held in securitization trusts, at fair value	[1]	111,764,070	119,756,455
Mortgage servicing rights, at fair value	[1]	3,021,549	2,963,861
Cash and cash equivalents	[1]	42,257,248	34,347,339
Restricted cash	[1]	11,658,225	11,275,263
Deferred offering costs	[1]	186,999	179,382
Accrued interest receivable	[1]	8,854,367	8,852,036
Investment related receivable (includes pledged securities of $138,262,099 for March 31, 2018)	[1]	143,801,279	7,461,128
Derivative assets, at fair value	[1]	18,132,700	5,349,613
Other assets	[1]	512,358	656,117
Total assets	[1]	2,541,970,671	2,612,541,116
Repurchase agreements:
Available-for-sale securities	[1]	1,177,060,000	1,234,522,000
Multi-family securitized debt obligations	[1]	1,086,279,589	1,109,204,743
Residential securitized debt obligations	[1]	106,676,747	114,418,318
Accrued interest payable	[1]	6,009,300	6,194,464
Dividends payable	[1]	39,132	39,132
Deferred income	[1]	273,968	222,518
Due to broker	[1]	13,741,125	1,123,463
Fees and expenses payable to Manager	[1]	1,319,711	752,000
Other accounts payable and accrued expenses	[1]	209,976	273,201
Total liabilities	[1]	2,391,609,548	2,466,749,839
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 March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	[1]	37,156,972	37,156,972
Common Stock: par value $0.01 per share; 450,000,000 shares authorized, 23,683,164 and 22,143,758 shares issued and outstanding, at March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively	[1]	236,787	221,393
Additional paid-in capital	[1]	231,348,163	224,048,169
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	[1]	(23,483,141)	(12,617,794)
Cumulative distributions to stockholders	[1]	(107,845,430)	(104,650,235)
Accumulated earnings	[1]	12,947,772	1,632,772
Total stockholders' equity	[1]	150,361,123	145,791,277
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	[1]	$ 2,541,970,671	$ 2,612,541,116

[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 March 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017, assets of consolidated VIEs totaled $1,223,232,702 and $1,255,404,335 respectively, and the liabilities of consolidated VIEs totaled $1,197,735,060 and $1,228,295,517 respectively