Net Income (Loss) Per Share/Unit - Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, Operating Partnership (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income (loss) attributable to the Operating Partnership	$ 33,408	$ 3,146	$ 47,846	$ (109,940)
Dividends to preferred units	(17,973)	(17,973)	(35,946)	(35,946)
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders/unitholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net income (loss) per share/unit	$ 16,015	$ (15,037)	$ 12,660	$ (146,221)
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - basic	974,160,295	904,107,378	974,005,811	903,966,552
Effect of dilutive securities	23,933,215	0	24,019,403	0
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - diluted	998,093,510	904,107,378	998,025,214	903,966,552
VEREIT Operating Partnership, L.P. [Member]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share [Line Items]
Net income (loss) attributable to the Operating Partnership	$ 34,200	$ 3,229	$ 48,997	$ (112,812)
Dividends to preferred units	(17,973)	(17,973)	(35,946)	(35,946)
Net income (loss) available to the Operating Partnership	16,227	(14,744)	13,051	(148,758)
Earnings allocated to participating units	(212)	(210)	(391)	(335)
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders/unitholders and limited partners used in basic and diluted net income (loss) per share/unit	$ 16,015	$ (14,954)	$ 12,660	$ (149,093)
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - basic	997,908,642	927,871,175	997,754,158	927,730,349
Effect of dilutive securities	184,868	0	271,056	0
Weighted average number of common units outstanding - diluted	998,093,510	927,871,175	998,025,214	927,730,349
Basic and diluted net income (loss) per unit attributable to common unitholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.02	$ (0.02)	$ 0.01	$ (0.16)