Equity (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	1 Months Ended						3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012 Partnership	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Dividend distributions	May 31, 2012 Dividend distributions	Apr. 30, 2012 Dividend distributions	Mar. 31, 2011 Underwritten public offering	Mar. 31, 2012 Equity Distribution Agreement	Mar. 31, 2012 Shelf Registration	Mar. 31, 2012 Total Cumulative Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Total Cumulative Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Series C Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Series C Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Feb. 29, 2012 Common Stock	Jan. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Feb. 28, 2011 Common Stock	Jan. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Conversion of noncontrolling interest Partner
Equity
Shares outstanding	2,000,000		2,000,000									2,000,000		3,536,530	3,536,530
Dividend Rate (as a percent)												8.50%		8.00%	8.00%
Number of shares of common stock to be issued upon conversion												2,000,000
Conversion price per share												$ 19.25
Total shares reserved for issuance of common stock related to the conversion of preferred stock												2,000,000
Liquidation Value Per share														$ 25.00	$ 25.00
Redemption price (in dollars per share)														$ 25.1333	$ 25.1333
Income allocated to preferred stockholders	$ 818,000	$ 6,624,000													$ 3,566,000
Maximum aggregate offering price of shares authorized for issuance								85,686,000
Amount available under equity distribution agreement								64,573,000
Common stock sold (in shares)							3,990,000
Sale price of common stock (in dollars per share)							$ 27.25
Net proceeds							103,829,000
Amount available under effective shelf registration statement									167,614,000
Maximum offering capacity under shelf registration statement									400,000,000
Dividend Distributions
Declared	14,044,000	14,123,000								818,000	3,058,000	818,000	818,000	2,240,000	2,240,000	13,226,000			11,065,000			13,226,000	11,065,000
Paid	14,044,000	12,833,000								818,000	1,768,000	818,000			1,768,000							13,226,000	11,065,000
Dividend declared per share per month				$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145										$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.14	$ 0.14	$ 0.14
Non-controlling Interests
Number of limited partnerships	1
Limited partnership, conversion basis	one-for-one basis
Number of limited partners exercising conversion rights																								2
Number of limited partners exchanging all of their 67,294 partnership units																								1
Number of partnership units converted by first limited partner (in shares)																								67,294
Number of partnership units converted by second limited partner (in shares)																								22,000
Redemption notification of limited partnership units (in shares)																								89,294
Cash paid, redemption of non-controlling interest	2,764,000																							2,764,000
Margin added to the common stock price per share on redemption date to determine amount to be paid to limited partner																								$ 0.05
Excess of redemption value over the book value																								1,246,000
Number of shares reserved under limited partnership interest																								23,294
Change from net income attributable and transfers from non-controlling interest
Net income attributable to LTC Properties, Inc	12,921,000	12,106,000
Transfers from the non-controlling interest: Decrease in paid-in capital for limited partners conversion	(1,246,000)
Change from net income attributable to LTC Properties, Inc. and transfers from non-controlling interest	11,675,000	12,106,000
Carrying value of the partnership conversion rights	407,000		1,962,000
Market value of the partnership conversion rights	757,000
Common Stock
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased (in shares)	5,000,000
Number of shares that must be repurchased for authorization to expire	5,000,000
Remaining number of shares authorized to be repurchased	3,360,237
Other Equity
Accumulated other comprehensive income	186,000		199,000
Stock option exercises (in shares)	10,000
Total option value	151,000
Market value of stock options exercised	$ 305,000