CONSOLIDATING FINANCIAL INFORMATION (Consolidating Balance Sheet) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Assets:
Cash	$ 18,102	$ 27,542	$ 26,428	$ 19,853
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	25,138	30,303
Investments in real estate, net	16,191	17,097
Investments, at fair value	10,218	9,540
Investments in unconsolidated entities	18,349	13,089
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	2,943,994	2,900,382	2,763,102
Liabilities:
Payables to managed entities and related parties	4,417	3,015
Borrowings	20,896	20,412
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	20,896	20,412
Total liabilities	1,976,433	1,819,939
Preferred stock	0	0
Common stock	338	335
Additional paid-in capital	310,663	308,134
Accumulated deficit	(28,676)	(23,663)
Treasury stock, at cost	(134,969)	(120,182)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(2,225)	(1,030)
Total stockholders’ equity	145,131	163,594
Total equity	967,561	1,080,443
Total liabilities and equity	2,943,994	2,900,382
Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	157,952		174,089
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Assets:
Cash	0	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Total assets	(29,700)
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Total liabilities	(2,075)
Total equity	(27,625)
Total liabilities and equity	(29,700)
RAI [Member]
Assets:
Cash	18,102	27,542
Restricted cash	941	725
Receivables	1,020	636
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	25,138	30,303
Investments in real estate, net	16,191	17,097
Investments, at fair value	10,218	9,540
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager	32,082	39,655
Investments in unconsolidated entities	18,349	13,089
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	5,533	5,063
Deferred tax assets, net	19,449	23,304
Other assets	10,929	5,416
Liabilities:
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	20,429	22,279
Payables to managed entities and related parties	4,417	3,015
Borrowings	20,896	20,412
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	20,896	20,412
Preferred stock	0
Common stock	338
Additional paid-in capital	310,663
Accumulated deficit	(28,676)
Treasury stock, at cost	(134,969)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(2,225)
Total stockholders’ equity	145,131
Noncontrolling interests	315	306
RAI [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Assets:
Cash	18,102	27,542
Restricted cash	941
Receivables	1,020
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	27,562
Investments in real estate, net	16,191
Investments, at fair value	18,209
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager	32,082
Investments in unconsolidated entities	25,451
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	5,533
Deferred tax assets, net	31,632
Other assets	10,929
Total assets	187,652
Liabilities:
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	20,429
Payables to managed entities and related parties	4,417
Borrowings	20,896
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	20,896
Total liabilities	45,742
Preferred stock	0
Common stock	338
Additional paid-in capital	310,663
Accumulated deficit	(18,421)
Treasury stock, at cost	(134,969)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(16,016)
Total stockholders’ equity	141,595
Noncontrolling interests	315
Total equity	141,910
Total liabilities and equity	187,652
RAI [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Assets:
Cash	0
Restricted cash	0
Receivables	0
Loans and receivables from managed entities and related parties, net	(2,424)
Investments in real estate, net	0
Investments, at fair value	(7,991)
Investments in unconsolidated loan manager	0
Investments in unconsolidated entities	(7,102)
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Property and equipment, net	0
Deferred tax assets, net	(12,183)
Other assets	0
Liabilities:
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	0
Payables to managed entities and related parties	0
Borrowings	0
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	0
Preferred stock	0
Common stock	0
Additional paid-in capital	0
Accumulated deficit	(10,255)
Treasury stock, at cost	0
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	13,791
Total stockholders’ equity	3,536
Noncontrolling interests	0
RSO [Member]
Assets:
Cash	104,735	79,905	163,269	$ 262,270
Restricted cash	24,110	122,138
Investments, at fair value	260,315	296,506
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	128,845	202,043
Loans	2,234,979	2,039,655
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	56,038	60,007
Other assets	105,865	129,801
Deferred tax assets, net	11,351	12,634
Total assets	2,786,042	2,728,012	$ 2,589,013
Liabilities:
Accrued expenses and other liabilities	9,531	9,287
Borrowings	1,881,240	1,717,132
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	1,881,240	1,717,132
Other liabilities	49,451	57,101
Total liabilities	1,930,691	1,774,233
Noncontrolling interests	822,115	916,543
RSO [Member] | Reportable Legal Entities [Member]
Assets:
Cash	0	0
Investments, at fair value	260,315
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	128,845
Loans	2,234,979	2,040,213
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	56,038
Other assets	105,865	129,910
Total assets	2,786,042	2,728,679
Liabilities:
Borrowings	1,880,891	1,716,871
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	1,880,891	1,716,871
Other liabilities	51,875	59,697
Total liabilities	1,932,766	1,776,568
Noncontrolling interests	853,276
Total equity	853,276
Total liabilities and equity	2,786,042
RSO [Member] | Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Assets:
Investments, at fair value	0
Assets of consolidated variable interest entity (VIE)-RSO (see Note 19):
Cash and cash equivalents (including restricted cash)	0
Loans	0	(558)
Investments in real estate and unconsolidated entities	0
Other assets	0	(109)
Total assets	0
Liabilities:
Borrowings	349	261
Liabilities of consolidated VIE-RSO:
Borrowings	349	261
Other liabilities	(2,424)	$ (2,596)
Total liabilities	(2,075)
Noncontrolling interests	$ (31,161)