RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS - Additional Information (Details)		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 05, 2014	Aug. 31, 2015 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Ratio of percentage of stockholders' equity			0.0875
Compensation and management fee			$ 164,322,000	$ 151,599,000	$ 150,286,000
Ratio of independent directors or holders of a majority of the outstanding shares			0.0067
Shares repurchased, shares (in shares) | shares			0	11,132,226
Shares repurchased, value				$ 102,700,000
Management Agreement
Compensation and management fee			$ 164,300,000	151,600,000	150,300,000
Management fee payable			$ 13,800,000	11,200,000
Renewal term	2 years
Management Agreement | Minimum
Management agreement, required period to terminate from the date of the notice			1 year
Chimera
Shares repurchased, shares (in shares) | shares		9,000,000
Shares repurchased, value		$ 126,400,000
Advisory fees from affiliate			$ 0	0	24,800,000
Subsidiaries | Management Agreement
Compensation expense			$ 7,200,000	$ 8,400,000	$ 7,500,000