Quarterly Results (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 351,869	$ 362,915	$ 371,019	$ 369,020	$ 383,374	$ 384,954	$ 393,721	$ 393,968	$ 1,454,823	$ 1,556,017	$ 1,579,257
Net (loss) income	(118,223)	30,246	3,233	(116,080)	(192,231)	8,141	(108,709)	(30,693)	(200,824)	(323,492)	(1,010,912)
Net loss attributable to the General Partner	(115,418)	29,495	3,146	(113,086)	(187,390)	7,529	(106,522)	(29,970)	(195,863)	(316,353)	(977,185)
Dividends to preferred shares and units	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,972)	(17,974)	(17,973)	(17,973)	(516,703)	(248,476)	(819,377)
Earnings allocated to participating securities	(89)	(154)	(210)	(125)	(188)	(217)	0	(5)
Net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net (loss) income per share	(133,480)	11,368	(15,037)	(131,184)	$ (205,550)	$ (10,662)	$ (124,495)	$ (47,948)	(267,755)	(388,245)	(1,075,907)
Income attributable to limited partners	0	739	0	0
Net (loss) income available to common stockholders/unitholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net income (loss) per share/unit	$ (133,480)	$ 12,107	$ (15,037)	$ (131,184)					$ (268,247)	$ (388,655)	$ (1,081,242)
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - basic (shares)	973,681,227	943,480,170	904,107,378	903,825,726
Effect of Limited Partner OP Units and dilutive securities (shares)	0	25,206,373	0	0
Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted (shares)	973,681,227	968,686,543	904,107,378	903,825,726
Weighted-average shares outstanding - basic and diluted (shares)					903,638,159	903,461,323	903,339,143	902,996,270	931,422,844	903,360,763	793,150,098
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ (0.14)	$ 0.01	$ (0.02)	$ (0.15)	$ (0.23)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.14)	$ (0.05)	$ (0.29)	$ (0.43)	$ (1.36)
VEREIT Operating Partnership, L.P. [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 351,869	$ 362,915	$ 371,019	$ 369,020	$ 383,374	$ 384,954	$ 393,721	$ 393,968	$ 1,454,823	$ 1,556,017	$ 1,579,257
Net (loss) income	(118,223)	30,246	3,233	(116,080)	(192,231)	8,141	(108,709)	(30,693)	(200,824)	(323,492)	(1,010,912)
Net loss attributable to the General Partner	(118,232)	30,234	3,229	(116,041)	(192,308)	7,737	(109,322)	(30,873)	(200,810)	(324,766)	(1,010,758)
Dividends to preferred shares and units	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,973)	(17,972)	(17,974)	(17,973)	(17,973)
Earnings allocated to participating securities	(89)	(154)	(210)	(125)	(188)	(217)	0	(5)	(492)	(410)	(5,335)
Net (loss) income attributable to common stockholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net (loss) income per share	$ (136,294)	$ 12,107	$ (14,954)	$ (134,139)	$ (210,468)	$ (10,454)	$ (127,295)	$ (48,851)
Net (loss) income available to common stockholders/unitholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net income (loss) per share/unit									$ (273,194)	$ (397,068)	$ (1,114,815)
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - basic (shares)	997,429,574	967,237,921	927,871,175	927,589,523
Effect of Limited Partner OP Units and dilutive securities (shares)	0	1,448,622	0	0
Weighted-average shares outstanding - diluted (shares)	997,429,574	968,686,543	927,871,175	927,589,523
Weighted-average shares outstanding - basic and diluted (shares)					927,401,956	927,225,120	927,102,940	926,760,067	955,181,238	927,124,560	817,883,937
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ (0.14)	$ 0.01	$ (0.02)	$ (0.15)	$ (0.23)	$ (0.01)	$ (0.14)	$ (0.05)