RSO VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES (Schedule of Carrying Value of Assets and Liabilities of Consolidated VIEs) (Details) (USD $)	Jun. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
ASSETS
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 2,400,757,000	$ 2,476,557,000
LIABILITIES
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,623,099,000	1,856,839,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	94,285,000	90,108,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	136,249,000	135,566,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	1,410,187,000	1,678,719,000
Loans held for sale	20,127,000	14,894,000
Interest receivable	5,654,000	5,986,000
Prepaid assets	220,000	328,000
Principal receivable	31,000	25,570,000
Other assets	35,000	333,000
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,666,788,000	1,951,504,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	1,345,454,000	1,614,882,000
Accrued interest expense	2,429,000	2,666,000
Derivatives, at fair value	12,237,000	14,078,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	683,000	698,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	1,360,803,000	1,632,324,000
Restricted cash available for reinvestment in certain of the CDOs	29,300,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO I Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	24,053,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	8,006,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	110,092,000
Loans held for sale	850,000
Interest receivable	(90,000)
Prepaid assets	24,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	142,935,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	126,093,000
Accrued interest expense	292,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	146,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	126,531,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CDO III Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	4,849,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	6,410,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	159,424,000
Loans held for sale	234,000
Interest receivable	642,000
Prepaid assets	21,000
Principal receivable	8,000
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	171,588,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	159,068,000
Accrued interest expense	68,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	27,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	159,163,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos Cinco CDO Ltd [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	24,828,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	12,359,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	309,278,000
Loans held for sale	299,000
Interest receivable	1,074,000
Prepaid assets	22,000
Principal receivable	23,000
Other assets	35,000
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	347,918,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	323,152,000
Accrued interest expense	328,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	34,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	323,514,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Apidos CLO VIII Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	9,908,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	1,940,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	321,792,000
Loans held for sale	17,955,000
Interest receivable	788,000
Prepaid assets	29,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	352,412,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	330,123,000
Accrued interest expense	1,374,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	387,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	331,884,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Whitney CLO I, Ltd. [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	14,342,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	29,794,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	77,108,000
Loans held for sale	789,000
Interest receivable	318,000
Prepaid assets	45,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	122,396,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	108,027,000
Accrued interest expense	218,000
Derivatives, at fair value	0
Accounts payable and other liabilities	69,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	108,314,000
Resource Capital Corp [Member] | VIE, Primary Beneficiary [Member] | Resource Real Estate Funding CDO 2006-1 [Member]
ASSETS
Restricted cash	15,595,000
Investment securities available-for-sale, pledged as collateral, at fair value	11,388,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	173,959,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,239,000
Prepaid assets	16,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	202,197,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	116,111,000
Accrued interest expense	46,000
Derivatives, at fair value	1,455,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	18,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	117,630,000
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	66,352,000
Loans, pledged as collateral	258,534,000
Loans held for sale	0
Interest receivable	1,683,000
Prepaid assets	63,000
Principal receivable	0
Other assets	0
Total assets of consolidated VIE - RSO	327,342,000
LIABILITIES
Borrowings	182,880,000
Accrued interest expense	103,000
Derivatives, at fair value	10,782,000
Accounts payable and other liabilities	2,000
Total liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO	$ 193,767,000