Litigation and Contingencies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Class Action Complaint Under RESPA [Member] Pending Litigation [Member]	Jul. 31, 2012 Class Action Complaint Under RESPA [Member] Pending Litigation [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Class Action Complaint Under RESPA [Member] Pending Litigation [Member] U.S. District Court for the Central District of California [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Class action lawsuit alleging discrimination [Member] Pending Litigation [Member] U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Class action complaint alleging violations of securities laws [Member] Pending Litigation [Member] U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Countrywide Dispute [Member] Pending Litigation [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Freddie Mac's disagreement on aggregate loss limit [Member]	Sep. 30, 2012 Lawsuits alleging improper recording and foreclosure activities by MERS [Member] Pending Litigation [Member]
Class action complaint under RESPA [Abstract]
Mortgage insurers named as defendants in class action				7
Number of similar cases filed naming various mortgage lenders and mortgage insurers as defendants			9
Number of cases with filed amended complaint		1
Number of cases voluntarily dismissed		1
Number of cases pending			9						2
Number of cases alleging violation of RESPA			9
Housing discrimination complaint - U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") [Abstract]
Settlement agreement date					2012-07-02
Settlement amount					$ 500,000
Incentive fee					7,500
Number of borrowers					265
Class counsels' fees					337,500
Class action complaints - Fulton County Employees' Retirement System [Abstract]
Number of previously filed purported class action complaints						5
Number of officers of C-BASS named as defendants in complaint						2
Number of officers named as defendants in amended complaint						2
Number of officers of C-BASS named as defendants in amended complaint						2
Countrywide dispute [Abstract]
Mitigation of paid losses							440,000,000
Average claims payment had the loans not been rescinded (per loan)							72,100
Amount of damages sought							700,000,000
Number of loans that each of the plaintiff and the defendant have selected							12
Number of members on arbitration panel							3
Total number of loans selected by both plaintiff and defendant combined							24
Number of rescindable loans affected by Company's decision to suspend rescissions	1,700						1,700
Total potential claim payments of rescindable loans affected by Company's decision to suspend rescissions	125,000,000						125,000,000
Number of loans in primary delinquency inventory related to plaintiff							32,560
Percentage of loans in primary delinquency inventory related to plaintiff (in hundredths)							22.00%
Claims paid (in hundredths)							83.00%
Claims rescinded (in hundredths)							17.00%
Claims paid had the Company processed the rescissions it has suspended							79.00%
Claims rescinded had the Company processed the rescissions it has suspended							21.00%
Mitigation of incurred losses since January 2008							3,100,000,000
Mitigation on paid losses, excluding deductible amounts							2,800,000,000
Amount excluded from mitigation on paid losses that would have been applied to a deductible							600,000,000
Total loss reserves, estimated benefit from rescissions							500,000,000
Freddie Mac dispute [Abstract]
Difference in aggregate loss limit under pool insurance policy								$ 535,000,000
Pool Insurance Coverage Period								usually ten years
Number Of Pool Insurance Policies								11
Number of notices removed from pool notice inventory	15,600
Lawsuits alleging improper recording and foreclosure activities by MERS [Abstract]
Number of lawsuits naming non-insurance subsidiary as defendant									7
Number of cases pending			9						2
Number of other lawsuits naming subsidiary as defendant that were dismissed									5