Document And Entity Information	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	OWENS MORTGAGE INVESTMENT FUND A CALIF LTD PARTNERSHIP
Document Type	10-Q
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding	0
Amendment Flag	true
Amendment Description	This Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A (“Amendment No. 1”) amends the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Owens Mortgage Investment Fund (the “Partnerhip”) for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2011, as originally filed on November 14, 2011 (the “Original Filing”). This Form 10-Q/A amends the Original Filing to reflect a restatement in management’s assessment of the disclosure controls and procedures as of September 30, 2011, and to restate Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting to include a material weakness in the Partnership’s internal control over financial reporting that existed as of September 30, 2011, due to the incorrect reporting of the number of limited partner units outstanding, the disclosure of the net income or loss allocated to limited partners per weighted average limited partnership unit during the periods covered by the Quarterly Report. The consolidated financial statements for the three and six months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 have been restated for an error in reporting the number of limited partners units outstanding. The consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 have also been restated for an error in reporting the balance of noncontrolling interests and net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests.
Entity Central Index Key	0000841501
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2011
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3