Commitments And Contingencies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended				48 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2012	Jan. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011	Jul. 31, 2011	Apr. 30, 2011	Jan. 31, 2011	Oct. 31, 2010	Jul. 31, 2010	Apr. 30, 2012	Apr. 30, 2011	Apr. 30, 2010	Apr. 30, 2009	Apr. 30, 2012	Apr. 30, 2007	Apr. 30, 2006	Apr. 30, 2005
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Additional tax assessment limit per client	$ 5,500								$ 5,500				$ 5,500
Standard guarantee accrual amount	16,300,000				14,700,000				16,300,000	14,700,000			16,300,000
Contingent business acquisition obligations	6,800,000				11,000,000				6,800,000	11,000,000			6,800,000
Lines of credit, total obligation	87,300,000								87,300,000				87,300,000
Remaining franchise equity lines of credit-undrawn commitment	43,200,000								43,200,000				43,200,000
Standby letter of credit issue limit	5,300,000								5,300,000				5,300,000
Standby letter of credit amount outstanding	0								0				0
Industrial Revenue Bonds purchased	31,000,000								31,000,000				31,000,000
Rent expense									218,300,000	224,900,000	242,100,000
Claims received for loans	543,000,000	35,000,000	483,000,000	31,000,000	55,000,000	33,000,000	21,000,000	109,000,000	1,887,000,000		145,000,000	432,000,000
Percentage of fraud on originated loans									68.00%
Percentage of loans originated in 2006 and 2007	95.00%								95.00%				95.00%
Amount of loans originated during 2005 through 2007	84,000,000,000								84,000,000,000				84,000,000,000
Percentage of loans issued to government sponsored entities, maximum	1.00%								1.00%				1.00%
Value of loans which have defaulted in the first two years														2,700,000,000	6,100,000,000	3,900,000,000
Percentage of reviewed claims denied									98.00%				90.00%
Loss on representation and warranty obligations													133,000,000
Loss severity rate									62.00%
Mortgage loans held for sale, net balance	11,800,000								11,800,000				11,800,000
Claims subject to review by SCC, amount	618,000,000								618,000,000				618,000,000
Reassertion of previously denied claims	47,000,000								47,000,000				47,000,000
Reserve for losses on repurchases	130,018,000				126,260,000				130,018,000	126,260,000	188,200,000	206,595,000	130,018,000
Estimated contingent losses	130,000,000								130,000,000				130,000,000
Additional loss provision	56,000,000								56,000,000				56,000,000
Net recorded loss provision									20,000,000
Payments under indemnity agreement										(49,785,000)	(151,000)
Loss severity rate, assumed	1.00%								1.00%				1.00%
Increase in losses due to assumed 1% increase in validity rates and loss severities									31,000,000
Private-Label Securitization Transactions [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Claims received for loans									989,000,000
Monoline Insurers [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Claims received for loans									92,000,000
Government-Sponsored Entity [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Claims received for loans									11,000,000
Minimum [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Term of operating leases, years									3
Number of days to respond to representation and warranty claims, in days									60
Maximum [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Term of operating leases, years									5
Number of days to respond to representation and warranty claims, in days									120
SCC [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Claims received for loans									$ 1,100,000,000