VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES - BORROWINGS (Amount at Risk Under Repurchase Facilities) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
RSO [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Bowwings		$ 1,716,871,000	$ 1,319,810,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form	13 years 1 month	10 years 0 months
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.09%	1.87%
RSO [Member] | CMBS - Term Repurchase Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Bowwings		24,967,000	47,601,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form	21 days	20 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.35%	1.38%
RSO [Member] | RMBS - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Bowwings		22,212,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		1 day
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.16%
RSO [Member] | CRE - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Bowwings		205,682,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		20 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.43%
RSO [Member] | Residential Mortgage Financing Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Outstanding Bowwings		102,576,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		207 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.78%
RSO [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | CMBS - Term Repurchase Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		6,486,000	10,796,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		20 days	21 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.35%	1.38%
RSO [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | RMBS - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		5,017,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		1 day
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.16%
RSO [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | CRE - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		76,148,000	20,718,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		20 days	21 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.38%	2.67%
RSO [Member] | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | Residential Mortgage Financing Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		6,902,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		183 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.75%
RSO [Member] | Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | CRE - Term Repurchase Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		13,017,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		19 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.78%
RSO [Member] | New Century Bank [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member] | Residential Mortgage Financing Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		853,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		242 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.82%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		399,662,000	91,931,000
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		61,189,000	0
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.75%	0.00%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk			8,925,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form			2 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate			1.19%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | CMBS - Term Repurchase Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		24,967,000	47,601,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.35%	1.38%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | JP Morgan Securities, LLC [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		0	7,882,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		0 days	11 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		0.00%	0.99%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		10,442,000	0
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.66%	0.00%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		2,127,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		9 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.66%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		33,783,000	0
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.62%	0.00%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc [Member] | Linked and Non-linked Transactions [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repurchase Agreement Counterparty, Amount at Risk		11,810,000	11,418,000
Debt Instrument, Maturity Date Free Form		20 days	22 days
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.62%	1.43%
RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | New Century Bank [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		41,387,000	11,916,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		2.82%	4.17%
RCC Real Estate [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		150,000,000
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		33,397,000	64,094,000
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member] | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association [Member] | CMBS - Term Repurchase Facilities [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		4,941,000	6,506,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.67%	1.65%
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member] | JP Morgan Securities, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		0	0
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		0.00%	0.00%
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | JP Morgan Securities, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		0	17,020,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		0.00%	0.99%
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Wells Fargo Securities, LLC [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		4,108,000	21,969,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.37%	1.19%
Linked Transactions [Member] | RSO [Member] | Repurchase Agreements [Member] | Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Face amount of debt issued		$ 24,348,000	$ 18,599,000
Weighted Average Borrowing Rate		1.57%	1.43%