Preferred and Common Stock (Details) (USD $)	6 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	10 Months Ended						0 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended					6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Oct. 22, 2013	Dec. 09, 2013	Aug. 20, 2013	Aug. 01, 2012	Jun. 30, 2014 At the Market Offering [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Resale Registration [Member]	May 28, 2014 Public Offering [Member]	Feb. 28, 2013 ARCT III [Member]	Nov. 08, 2013 Common Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Common Stock [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Common Stock [Member] Universal Shelf Registration [Member]	May 28, 2014 Common Stock [Member] Public Offering [Member]	May 28, 2014 Common Stock [Member] Public Offering [Member]	Jan. 03, 2014 Common Stock [Member] ARCT IV [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Member Units [Member]	Jan. 03, 2014 Member Units [Member] ARCT IV [Member]	Jan. 03, 2014 Member Units [Member] ARCT IV [Member] American Realty Capital Trust IV, Operating Partnership [Member]	Nov. 08, 2013 Series D preferred stock	Jun. 30, 2014 Series D preferred stock	Dec. 31, 2013 Series D preferred stock	Jun. 30, 2014 Series D preferred stock Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments, Net, Pretax [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Member Units [Member]	Jun. 30, 2014 Series F Preferred Stock [Member]	Jan. 03, 2014 Series F Preferred Stock [Member] Member Units [Member] ARCT IV [Member]	Jan. 03, 2014 Series F Preferred Stock [Member] Member Units [Member] ARCT IV [Member] American Realty Capital Trust IV, Operating Partnership [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred stock, issued												15,100,000									21,700,000	21,735,008	21,735,008
Proceeds from issuances of preferred shares																					$ 288,000,000
Proceeds from issuances of common stock, net offering costs	1,595,735,000	1,810,116,000								1,590,000,000		186,000,000
Preferred stock, dividend rate, percentage																					5.81%					6.70%	6.70%
Share price																$ 12.00					$ 13.59
Temporary equity, dividend rate, per-dollar amount																					$ 0.79
Temporary equity, liquidation preference per share																					$ 13.59
Temporary equity, liquidation preference, premium percentage																					20.00%
Temporary equity, redemption, liquidation preference, percentage																					102.00%
Temporary equity, redemption, value weighted average price, percentage																					102.00%
Temporary equity, conversion, value weighted average price discount, percentage																					2.00%
Number of trading days prior to the conversion election date																					10 days
Temporary equity, conversion, discount on closing price, percentage																					2.00%
Temporary equity, redemption price per share																					$ 13.59
Temporary equity, conversion, volume weighted average price, percent																					102.00%
Embedded derivative, fair value of embedded derivative, net																					18,700,000	11,500,000	16,700,000
Loss on derivative instruments, net																								(5,200,000)
Preferred stock, fair value																					269,300,000	269,299,000	269,299,000
Temporary equity, shares authorized																						21,735,008	21,735,008
Business acquisition, equity interest issued or issuable, number of shares											140,700,000						36,900,000			42,200,000							42,200,000	700,000
Conversion of OP units to series F preferred stock, shares	500,000
Preferred stock, issued																		190,999								42,730,013
Preferred stock, outstanding																									266,093	42,654,919
Preferred stock, liquidation preference per share																										$ 25.00
Preferred stock, dividend rate, per-dollar-amount																										$ 1.675
Common stock, shares authorized					1,500,000,000				1,882,248
Maximum amount of offering from universal shelf registration statement							500,000,000	60,000,000
Shares issued (in shares)													662,305,318	2,100,000	138,000,000
Structuring Fee										2,000,000
Authorized annual dividends, per share	$ 1.00		$ 1.00	$ 0.94
Authorized annual dividends increase (decrease), per share			$ 0.06
Stock repurchase program, authorized amount						$ 250,000,000
Business combination, acquiree shares exchanged for cash											29,200,000
Percentage of shares outstanding											16.50%
Business combination, consideration transferred, amount per share											$ 12.00								$ 9.00
Business combination, acquiree shares equivalent of acquirer shares											27,700,000
Business combination, acquiree shares exchanged for acquirer shares											148,100,000