THE COMPANY	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2018
Nature Of Operations [Abstract]
THE COMPANY	NOTE 1: THE COMPANY RAIT Financial Trust is a self-managed and self-advised Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on managing a portfolio of commercial real estate (CRE) loans and properties. References to “RAIT”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to RAIT Financial Trust and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. We have financed a substantial portion of our investments through borrowing and securitization strategies seeking to match the maturities and terms of our financings with the maturities and terms of those investments. On September 7, 2017, we announced that our Board of Trustees, or the board, had formed a committee of independent trustees, or the special committee, to explore and evaluate a wide range of possible strategic and financial alternatives for RAIT. On February 20, 2018, we announced that the special committee had concluded this review and that the board has determined that this review did not identify a strategic or financial transaction with another counterparty that was preferable to the steps described below. This review, conducted with the support of financial and legal advisors, evaluated a wide range of potential alternatives which included, but were not limited to, (i) refinements of RAIT’s operations or strategy, (ii) financial transactions, such as a recapitalization or other change to RAIT’s capital structure and (iii) strategic transactions, such as a sale of all or part of RAIT. As a result, the board, after considering the recommendations and advice of the special committee, RAIT’s management and legal and financial advisors, determined that RAIT should take steps to increase RAIT’s liquidity and better position RAIT to meet its financial obligations as they come due. We refer to these steps as the 2018 strategic steps and they include, but are not limited to: (i) the suspension of RAIT’s lending business along with the implementation of other steps to reduce costs within its other operating businesses; (ii) the continuation of the process of selling RAIT’s owned real estate (REO) portfolio and selling certain of our loans, while continuing to service and manage its existing CRE loan portfolio; and (iii) the engagement of a financial advisor, M-III Advisory Partners, LP, to advise and assist RAIT in its ongoing assessment of its financial performance and financial needs and in evaluating strategic and financial transactions.

NOTE 1: THE COMPANY

RAIT Financial Trust is a self-managed and self-advised Maryland real estate investment trust, or REIT, focused on managing a portfolio of commercial real estate (CRE) loans and properties. References to “RAIT”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to RAIT Financial Trust and its subsidiaries, unless the context otherwise requires. We have financed a substantial portion of our investments through borrowing and securitization strategies seeking to match the maturities and terms of our financings with the maturities and terms of those investments.

On September 7, 2017, we announced that our Board of Trustees, or the board, had formed a committee of independent trustees, or the special committee, to explore and evaluate a wide range of possible strategic and financial alternatives for RAIT. On February 20, 2018, we announced that the special committee had concluded this review and that the board has determined that this review did not identify a strategic or financial transaction with another counterparty that was preferable to the steps described below. This review, conducted with the support of financial and legal advisors, evaluated a wide range of potential alternatives which included, but were not limited to, (i) refinements of RAIT’s operations or strategy, (ii) financial transactions, such as a recapitalization or other change to RAIT’s capital structure and (iii) strategic transactions, such as a sale of all or part of RAIT. As a result, the board, after considering the recommendations and advice of the special committee, RAIT’s management and legal and financial advisors, determined that RAIT should take steps to increase RAIT’s liquidity and better position RAIT to meet its financial obligations as they come due. We refer to these steps as the 2018 strategic steps and they include, but are not limited to: (i) the suspension of RAIT’s lending business along with the implementation of other steps to reduce costs within its other operating businesses; (ii) the continuation of the process of selling RAIT’s owned real estate (REO) portfolio and selling certain of our loans, while continuing to service and manage its existing CRE loan portfolio; and (iii) the engagement of a financial advisor, M-III Advisory Partners, LP, to advise and assist RAIT in its ongoing assessment of its financial performance and financial needs and in evaluating strategic and financial transactions.