Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017
Interest income:
Available-for-sale securities	$ 0	$ 7,827,281	$ 10,748,966	$ 21,308,582
Residential mortgage loans held-for-sale	0	12,082	0	69,416
Commercial mortgage loans held-for-investment	9,365,400	0	15,259,400	0
Multi-family loans held in securitization trusts	336,824	13,473,913	20,540,942	40,992,241
Residential loans held in securitization trusts	0	1,249,966	2,102,352	3,903,924
Cash and cash equivalents	17,024	63,264	134,002	138,745
Interest expense:
Repurchase agreements - available-for-sale securities	0	(4,118,639)	(7,637,242)	(9,087,956)
Collateralized loan obligations	(4,366,632)	0	(7,255,799)	0
Multi-family securitized debt obligations	(237,980)	(12,766,808)	(19,404,532)	(38,866,888)
Residential securitized debt obligations	0	(995,293)	(1,685,971)	(3,100,616)
Net interest income	5,114,636	4,745,766	12,802,118	15,357,448
Other income:
Realized gain (loss) on sale of investments, net	(13,617)	(5,148,445)	(33,358,905)	(14,616,997)
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on fair value option securities	0	0	0	9,448,270
Realized gain (loss) on derivative contracts, net	0	(1,636,725)	25,984,870	2,049,400
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on derivative contracts, net	0	307,263	(5,349,613)	(8,583,100)
Realized gain (loss) on mortgage loans held-for-sale	0	(221,197)	0	(221,620)
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on mortgage loans held-for-sale	0	28,794	0	17,727
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on mortgage servicing rights	103,512	(102,945)	1,245,264	(457,720)
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on multi-family loans held in securitization trusts	957,549	694,730	(5,861,373)	2,797,566
Change in unrealized gain (loss) on residential loans held in securitization trusts	0	(155,252)	5,650,199	(773,674)
Other interest expense	0	0	0	(152,322)
Servicing income	285,745	276,211	702,127	721,468
Other income	27,942	8,369	88,434	33,275
Total other income (loss)	1,361,131	(5,949,197)	(10,898,997)	(9,737,727)
Expenses:
Management fee	586,926	573,412	1,767,252	1,670,804
General and administrative expenses	796,600	1,288,978	3,148,945	4,120,807
Operating expenses reimbursable to Manager	548,132	915,452	1,865,057	3,086,304
Other operating expenses	136,400	225,502	742,059	770,189
Compensation expense	54,683	49,562	201,845	155,384
Total expenses	2,122,741	3,052,906	7,725,158	9,803,488
Net income (loss)	4,353,026	(4,256,337)	(5,822,037)	(4,183,767)
Dividends to preferred stockholders	(880,509)	(880,509)	(2,631,744)	(2,631,744)
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders (basic and diluted)	3,472,517	(5,136,846)	(8,453,781)	(6,815,511)
Earnings (deficit) per share:
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders (basic and diluted)	$ 3,472,517	$ (5,136,846)	$ (8,453,781)	$ (6,815,511)
Weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding (in shares)	23,687,273	22,139,258	23,588,688	19,342,188
Basic and diluted income (loss) per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.15	$ (0.23)	$ (0.36)	$ (0.35)
Dividends declared per share of common stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.06	$ 0.15	$ 0.22	$ 0.45