RSO VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES (Schedule of Carrying Value of Assets and Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs) (Details) (USD $)	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
ASSETS
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 2,271,468,000	$ 2,476,557,000
LIABILITIES
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,485,385,000	1,856,839,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	53,752,000	90,108,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	110,993,000	135,566,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	981,513,000	1,678,719,000
Loans held for sale	332,351,000	14,894,000
Interest receivable	5,506,000	5,986,000
Prepaid assets	254,000	328,000
Principal receivable	7,000	25,570,000
Other assets	35,000	333,000
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,484,411,000	1,951,504,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	1,166,209,000	1,614,882,000
Accrued interest expense	2,184,000	2,666,000
Derivatives, at fair value	11,766,000	14,078,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	646,000	698,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,180,805,000	1,632,324,000
Restricted cash available for reinvestment in certain of the CDOs	16,700,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO I Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	10,253,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	8,097,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	100,268,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	(148,000)
Prepaid assets	14,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	118,484,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	101,827,000
Accrued interest expense	263,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	154,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	102,244,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO III Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	2,943,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	6,217,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	148,660,000
Loans held for sale	183,000
Interest receivable	597,000
Prepaid assets	14,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	158,614,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	145,875,000
Accrued interest expense	63,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	18,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	145,956,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos Cinco CDO Ltd [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	18,368,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	16,622,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	308,128,000
Loans held for sale	3,688,000
Interest receivable	1,094,000
Prepaid assets	26,000
Principal receivable	7,000
Other assets	35,000
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	347,968,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	320,997,000
Accrued interest expense	325,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	23,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	321,345,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CLO VIII Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	16,152,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	1,975,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	7,874,000
Loans held for sale	325,675,000
Interest receivable	752,000
Prepaid assets	7,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	352,435,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	321,360,000
Accrued interest expense	1,386,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	384,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	323,130,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Whitney CLO I, Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	5,586,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	635,000
Loans held for sale	2,805,000
Interest receivable	(18,000)
Prepaid assets	23,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	9,031,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	2,424,000
Accrued interest expense	0
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	43,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	2,467,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2006-1 [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	20,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	11,658,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	158,659,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,388,000
Prepaid assets	99,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	171,824,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	95,151,000
Accrued interest expense	41,000
Derivatives, at fair value	1,379,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	22,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	96,593,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2007-1 [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	430,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	66,424,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	257,289,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,841,000
Prepaid assets	71,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	326,055,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	178,575,000
Accrued interest expense	106,000
Derivatives, at fair value	10,387,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	2,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 189,070,000