INVESTMENTS IN RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS - Summary of Activities Related to the Carrying Value of Loans Held-for-sale (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		9 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Loans Held-for-sale, Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Transfer of loans to real estate owned		$ (28,836)	$ 0
Loans Held-for-sale [Member]
Loans Held-for-sale, Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance, loans held-for-sale		1,126,439
Purchases	[1]	1,029,934
Sales		(1,355,082)
Transfer of loans to other assets		(9,038)
Transfer of loans to real estate owned		(27,900)
Proceeds from repayments		(51,548)
Valuation provision on loans		(719)
Ending balance, loans held-for-sale		713,917
Accounting Standards Update 2014-11 [Member]
Loans Held-for-sale, Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Adoption of ASU No. 2014-11 (Note 1)		146,741
Accounting Standards Update 2014-11 [Member] | Loans Held-for-sale [Member]
Loans Held-for-sale, Reconciliation [Roll Forward]
Adoption of ASU No. 2014-11 (Note 1)	[2]	$ 1,831

[1] Represents loans acquired with the intent to sell, including loans acquired in the HLSS Acquisition (Note 1).

[2] Represents loans financed with the selling counterparty that were previously accounted for as linked transactions (Note 1).