Borrowings (Details) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($) counterparties	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) counterparties
Borrowings [Line Items]
Total secured borrowings		$ 1,148,000	$ 1,058,000
Number of Counterparties with Outstanding Reverse Repurchase Agreements | counterparties		19	21
Investments held with dealers as collateral		$ 1,220,000	$ 1,150,000
Pledged Financial Instruments, Not Separately Reported, Securities For Repurchase Agreements Unsettled		$ 14,800	33,400
Repurchase Agreements amount at risk threshold		10.00%
Other secured borrowings		$ 61,802	24,086
Loans and REO pledged as collateral		$ 40,900	$ 42,000
Investment Interest Rate Range Start		4.40%
Effective interest rate on borrowing		4.73%
Minimum [Member]
Borrowings [Line Items]
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Maturity		30 days
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Remaining Terms		3 days	3 days
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Interest Rate		(2.00%)	0.60%
Maximum [Member]
Borrowings [Line Items]
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Maturity		180 days
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Remaining Terms		285 days	320 days
Reverse Repurchase Agreements Interest Rate		3.73%	3.76%
Reverse Repurchase Agreements [Member]
Borrowings [Line Items]
Cash collateral posted for securities sold under agreements to repurchase	[1],[2]	$ 25,097	$ 39,189
Security Owned and Pledged as Collateral, Fair Value		2,100	2,700
Commercial mortgage loans and REO [Member]
Borrowings [Line Items]
Other secured borrowings		18,200	$ 24,100
Unsecured loans [Member]
Borrowings [Line Items]
Other secured borrowings		$ 43,600

[1] For the purpose of this presentation, for each row the total amount of financial instruments transferred or pledged and cash collateral (received) or pledged may not exceed the applicable gross amount of assets or (liabilities) as presented here. Therefore, the Company has reduced the amount of financial instruments transferred or pledged as collateral related to the Company's reverse repurchase agreements and cash collateral pledged on the Company's financial derivative liabilities. Total financial instruments transferred or pledged as collateral on the Company's reverse repurchase agreements as of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016 were $1.22 billion and $1.16 billion, respectively. As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, total cash collateral on financial derivative assets excludes excess net cash collateral pledged of $10.7 million and $14.9 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2017 and December 31, 2016, total cash collateral on financial derivative liabilities excludes excess cash collateral pledged of $11.1 million and $14.8 million, respectively.

[2] When collateral is pledged to or pledged by a counterparty, it is often pledged or posted with respect to all positions with such counterparty, and in such cases such collateral cannot be specifically identified as relating to a specific asset or liability. As a result, in preparing the above tables, the Company has made assumptions in allocating pledged or posted collateral among the various rows.