VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES (Details) RSO (USD $)	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			3 Months Ended					3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] credit	Dec. 31, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Investment in RCAM [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Investment in RCAM [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Investment in RCAM [Member] Entity	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] Entity	Dec. 31, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] Investment in RCAM [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. [Member] Position	Sep. 30, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. [Member]	Nov. 16, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. [Member] Series A Preferred Stock [Member]	Nov. 16, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. [Member] Series B Preferred Stock [Member]	Nov. 16, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] LEAF Commercial Capital, Inc. [Member] Series D Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Interest in RCT I and RCT II [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Interest in RCT I [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Interest in RCT II [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Interest in RCT II [Member]	Feb. 28, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Investment in RCAM [Member] Entity	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member]	Dec. 01, 2009 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member] Minimum [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] RRE VIP Borrower, LLC [Member] Maximum [Member]	Jun. 19, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Varde Investment Partners, LP [Member] Property	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary [Member] Varde Investment Partners, LP [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Investment in RCAM [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment in RCAM [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Investment in RCAM [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Number of consolidated VIEs										7
Number of VIEs for which persons of power are considered a related party group										6
Number Of Credits Supported In VIEs				2
Financial support provided to VIEs										$ 0	$ 210,000												$ 126,000	$ 231,000
Shares received in equity method transaction (in shares)															31,341	4,872	2,364
Preferred stock, coupon authorized (in hundredths)													8.00%
Ownership percentage in VIE													26.70%					100.00%											7.50%
Investments in unconsolidated entities													33,100,000	34,000,000				1,500,000					2,300,000		3,000,000					526,000
Variable interest entity, number of board positions held by the company													2
Variable interest entity, total number of board positions													6
Percentage of total value of trusts owned																			3.00%		3.00%
Borrowings	1,785,600,000			1,785,600,000		1,670,010,000													25,800,000	25,800,000
Bank loan assets under management									1,900,000,000
Number of CLOs held by purchased entity									5													4
Preferred equity acquired			66.60%									66.60%
Acquisition									22,500,000																	2,100,000
Required contribution to joint venture, as a percentage of the total funding required for each asset acquisition on a monthly basis																											3.00%	5.00%
Intangible assets				13,192,000		17,104,000	13,100,000																								13,105,000		17,000,000
Fee income				1,540,000	1,930,000		1,900,000	1,500,000																							1,800,000	1,900,000
Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated entities	1,201,000	557,000		(1,240,000)	819,000																		820,000	(148,000)						(135,000)
Number of condominium developments																													2
Threshold for determination of capital call, aggregate capital contributions (exceeds $500 million)																														$ 500,000,000