CONSOLIDATING FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $)	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Cash	$ 19,853,000	$ 11,899,000	$ 12,803,000	$ 14,530,000
Receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	30,923,000	30,618,000
Investments in real estate, net	17,696,000	18,041,000
Investment securities, at fair value	7,839,000	10,576,000
Investments in unconsolidated entities	14,342,000	13,156,000
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Property and equipment, net	5,844,000	2,590,000
Total assets	2,318,451,000	2,636,764,000	2,436,477,000
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,110,000	3,536,000
Borrowings	20,619,000	20,735,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	1,421,125,000	1,902,974,000
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding	0	0
Common stock, $.01 par value, 49,000,000 shares authorized; 30,378,339 and 30,069,822 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 400,194 and 604,353), respectively	299,000	295,000
Additional paid-in capital	288,555,000	286,048,000
Accumulated deficit	(26,025,000)	(29,486,000)
Treasury stock, at cost	(107,874,000)	(103,472,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(1,231,000)	(2,197,000)	(2,199,000)
Total stockholders’ equity	153,724,000	151,188,000
Total equity	897,326,000	733,790,000	528,680,000	460,726,000
Liabilities and equity	2,318,451,000	2,636,764,000
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash	0	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Total assets	(28,796,000)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	(3,207,000)
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding	0
Common stock, $.01 par value, 49,000,000 shares authorized; 30,378,339 and 30,069,822 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 400,194 and 604,353), respectively	0
Additional paid-in capital	0
Accumulated deficit	(4,173,000)
Treasury stock, at cost	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	9,144,000
Total stockholders’ equity	4,971,000
Total equity	(25,589,000)
Liabilities and equity	(28,796,000)
Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Total assets	167,990,000	160,207,000	153,491,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding	0
Common stock, $.01 par value, 49,000,000 shares authorized; 30,378,339 and 30,069,822 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 400,194 and 604,353), respectively	299,000
Additional paid-in capital	288,555,000
Accumulated deficit	(21,852,000)
Treasury stock, at cost	(107,874,000)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(10,375,000)
Total stockholders’ equity	148,753,000
RAI [Member]
Cash	19,853,000	11,899,000
Restricted cash	571,000	638,000
Receivables	541,000	468,000
Receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	30,923,000	30,618,000
Investments in real estate, net	17,696,000	18,041,000
Investment securities, at fair value	7,839,000	10,576,000
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Notes 1 and 8)	37,821,000	37,221,000
Investments in unconsolidated entities	14,342,000	13,156,000
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Property and equipment, net	5,844,000	2,590,000
Deferred tax assets, net	27,769,000	28,274,000
Other assets	4,791,000	6,726,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	22,134,000	21,864,000
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,110,000	3,536,000
Borrowings	20,619,000	20,735,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Noncontrolling interests	238,000	279,000
RAI [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash	0
Restricted cash	0
Receivables	(44,000)
Receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	(2,402,000)
Investments in real estate, net	0
Investment securities, at fair value	(17,003,000)
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Notes 1 and 8)	0
Investments in unconsolidated entities	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Property and equipment, net	0
Deferred tax assets, net	(8,381,000)
Other assets	0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0
Payables to managed entities and related parties	(16,000)
Borrowings	(950,000)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Noncontrolling interests	0
RAI [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Cash	19,853,000	11,899,000
Restricted cash	571,000
Receivables	585,000
Receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	33,325,000
Investments in real estate, net	17,696,000
Investment securities, at fair value	24,842,000
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Notes 1 and 8)	37,821,000
Investments in unconsolidated entities	14,342,000
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Property and equipment, net	5,844,000
Deferred tax assets, net	36,150,000
Other assets	4,791,000
Total assets	195,820,000
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	22,134,000
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,126,000
Borrowings	21,569,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	46,829,000
Noncontrolling interests	238,000
Total equity	148,991,000
Liabilities and equity	195,820,000
RSO [Member]
Investment securities, at fair value	221,395,000	256,433,000
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	325,579,000	179,390,000
Loans	1,397,458,000	1,849,428,000
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	129,562,000	120,706,000
Other assets	76,467,000	70,600,000
Total assets	2,150,461,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	1,320,015,000	1,785,600,000
Other liabilities	55,247,000	71,239,000
Total liabilities	1,375,262,000
Noncontrolling interests	743,364,000	582,323,000
RSO [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Investment securities, at fair value	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	0
Loans	(950,000)
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	0
Other assets	(16,000)
Total assets	(966,000)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	205,000
Other liabilities	(2,446,000)
Total liabilities	(2,241,000)
Noncontrolling interests	(30,560,000)
RSO [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Cash	0	0
Investment securities, at fair value	221,395,000
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 23):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	325,579,000
Loans	1,398,408,000
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	129,562,000
Other assets	76,483,000
Total assets	2,151,427,000
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	1,319,810,000
Other liabilities	57,693,000
Total liabilities	1,377,503,000
Noncontrolling interests	773,924,000
Total equity	773,924,000
Liabilities and equity	$ 2,151,427,000