RSO RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS (Relationship with CVC Credit Partners, LLC) (Details) (USD $)		1 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Entity	Dec. 31, 2012 Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Feb. 24, 2011 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Churchill Pacific Asset Management LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Resource Capital Corp [Member] Churchill Pacific Asset Management LLC [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Apidos Capital Management LLC [Member] CVC Capital Partners [Member]	Mar. 31, 2012 Apidos Capital Management LLC [Member] CVC Capital Partners [Member]	Oct. 31, 2012 Whitney CLO I, Ltd. [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 Whitney CLO I, Ltd. [Member] VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Mar. 31, 2013 SLH Partners [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 SLH Partners [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]	Jun. 21, 2011 SLH Partners [Member] Resource Capital Corp [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Ownership percentage (in hundredths)	10.00%				100.00%								10.00%
Purchase of ownership interest					$ 22,500,000
Assets under management, carrying amount						1,900,000,000
Number of CLO issuers			5
Percentage of subordinated fees the company is entitled to collect (in hundredths)							10.00%
Percentage of incentive fees the company is entitled to collect (in hundredths)							50.00%
Subordinated fees received							181,000	207,000
Preferred equity acquired		66.60%							66.60%
Ownership interests in variable interest entities (in hundredths)									66.60%	68.30%
Investments in unconsolidated entities			$ 48,419,000	$ 45,413,000							$ 1,300,000	$ 1,200,000