CONSOLIDATING FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Cash	$ 17,210	$ 19,853	$ 15,372	$ 11,899
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	34,506	30,923
Investments in real estate, net	17,167	17,696
Investment securities, at fair value	9,100	7,839
Investments in unconsolidated entities	13,609	14,342
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	2,509,891	2,318,451	2,528,778
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,112	3,110
Borrowings	20,501	20,619
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	1,605,511	1,421,125
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; 30,807,746 and 30,378,339 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 689,904 and 400,194), respectively	301	299
Additional paid-in capital	288,958	288,555
Accumulated deficit	(26,023)	(26,025)
Treasury stock, at cost	(107,905)	(107,874)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(1,164)	(1,231)
Total stockholders’ equity	154,167	153,724
Total equity	904,380	897,326
Liabilities and equity	2,509,891	2,318,451
Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	168,556		161,925
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; 30,807,746 and 30,378,339 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 689,904 and 400,194), respectively	301
Additional paid-in capital	288,958
Accumulated deficit	(21,544)
Treasury stock, at cost	(107,905)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(10,843)
Total stockholders’ equity	148,967
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash	0	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	(28,089)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	(3,087)
Preferred stock, $1.00 par value, 1,000,000 shares authorized; none outstanding	0
Common stock, $.01 par value, 49,000,000 shares authorized; 30,807,746 and 30,378,339 shares issued (including nonvested restricted stock of 689,904 and 400,194), respectively	0
Additional paid-in capital	0
Accumulated deficit	(4,479)
Treasury stock, at cost	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	9,679
Total stockholders’ equity	5,200
Total equity	(25,002)
Liabilities and equity	(28,089)
RAI [Member]
Cash	17,210	19,853
Restricted cash	627	571
Receivables	572	541
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	34,506	30,923
Investments in real estate, net	17,167	17,696
Investment securities, at fair value	9,100	7,839
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Note 8)	38,181	37,821
Investments in unconsolidated entities	13,609	14,342
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	5,566	5,844
Deferred tax assets, net	26,587	27,769
Other assets	5,431	4,791
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	22,698	22,134
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,112	3,110
Borrowings	20,501	20,619
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Noncontrolling interests	221	238
RAI [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Cash	17,210	19,853
Restricted cash	627
Receivables	660
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	37,109
Investments in real estate, net	17,167
Investment securities, at fair value	25,049
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Note 8)	38,181
Investments in unconsolidated entities	13,609
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	5,566
Deferred tax assets, net	35,463
Other assets	5,431
Total assets	196,072
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	22,698
Payables to managed entities and related parties	3,127
Borrowings	21,059
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Total liabilities	46,884
Noncontrolling interests	221
Total equity	149,188
Liabilities and equity	196,072
RAI [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash	0
Restricted cash	0
Receivables	(88)
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	(2,603)
Investments in real estate, net	0
Investment securities, at fair value	(15,949)
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager (see Note 8)	0
Investments in unconsolidated entities	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	0
Deferred tax assets, net	(8,876)
Other assets	0
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0
Payables to managed entities and related parties	(15)
Borrowings	(558)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Noncontrolling interests	0
RSO [Member]
Investment securities, at fair value	243,538	226,764
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	282,638	325,579
Loans	1,618,060	1,397,458
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	117,280	124,193
Other assets	79,819	76,467
Total assets	2,341,335
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	1,502,266	1,320,015
Other liabilities	56,934	55,247
Total liabilities	1,559,200
Noncontrolling interests	749,992	743,364
RSO [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Cash	0	0
Investment securities, at fair value	243,538
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	282,638
Loans	1,618,618
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	117,280
Other assets	79,834
Total assets	2,341,908
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	1,502,089
Other liabilities	59,625
Total liabilities	1,561,714
Noncontrolling interests	780,194
Total equity	780,194
Liabilities and equity	2,341,908
RSO [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Investment securities, at fair value	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE) - RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	0
Loans	(558)
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	0
Other assets	(15)
Total assets	(573)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE - RSO:
Borrowings	177
Other liabilities	(2,691)
Total liabilities	(2,514)
Noncontrolling interests	$ (30,202)