RSO VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES (Schedule of Carrying Value of Assets and Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs) (Details) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
ASSETS
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 2,366,853,000	$ 2,476,557,000
LIABILITIES
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,708,504,000	1,856,839,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	107,620,000	90,108,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	137,553,000	135,566,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	1,533,796,000	1,678,719,000
Loans held for sale	18,150,000	14,894,000
Interest receivable	6,527,000	5,986,000
Prepaid assets	303,000	328,000
Principal receivable	21,000	25,570,000
Other assets	0	333,000
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,803,970,000	1,951,504,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	1,475,014,000	1,614,882,000
Accrued interest expense	2,528,000	2,666,000
Derivatives, at fair value	13,478,000	14,078,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	1,423,000	698,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,492,443,000	1,632,324,000
Restricted cash available for reinvestment in certain of the CDOs	35,700,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO I Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	41,833,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	7,904,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	140,141,000
Loans held for sale	1,378,000
Interest receivable	9,000
Prepaid assets	39,000
Principal receivable	12,000
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	191,316,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	174,493,000
Accrued interest expense	346,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	140,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	174,979,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO III Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	8,546,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	6,321,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	187,390,000
Loans held for sale	2,228,000
Interest receivable	798,000
Prepaid assets	24,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	205,307,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	193,248,000
Accrued interest expense	82,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	16,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	193,346,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos Cinco CDO Ltd [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	26,439,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	11,618,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	306,837,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,176,000
Prepaid assets	32,000
Principal receivable	9,000
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	346,111,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	320,699,000
Accrued interest expense	321,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	32,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	321,052,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CLO VIII Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	13,241,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	955,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	320,144,000
Loans held for sale	13,800,000
Interest receivable	871,000
Prepaid assets	56,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	349,067,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	321,182,000
Accrued interest expense	1,372,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	384,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	322,938,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Whitney CLO I, Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	16,832,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	33,906,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	113,700,000
Loans held for sale	744,000
Interest receivable	423,000
Prepaid assets	68,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	165,673,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	149,939,000
Accrued interest expense	234,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	837,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	151,010,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2006-1 [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	19,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	10,950,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	188,853,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,153,000
Prepaid assets	48,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	201,023,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	116,220,000
Accrued interest expense	52,000
Derivatives, at fair value	1,908,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	13,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	118,193,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2007-1 [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	710,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	65,899,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	276,731,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	2,097,000
Prepaid assets	36,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	345,473,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	199,233,000
Accrued interest expense	121,000
Derivatives, at fair value	11,570,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	1,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 210,925,000