Equity (Details 2) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						1 Months Ended												6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 partnership	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 Dividend distributions	Aug. 31, 2012 Dividend distributions	Jul. 31, 2012 Dividend distributions	Jun. 30, 2011 Underwritten public offering	Jun. 30, 2012 Equity Distribution Agreement	Jun. 30, 2012 Shelf Registration	Jun. 30, 2012 Total Cumulative Preferred Stock	Jun. 30, 2011 Total Cumulative Preferred Stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Series C Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock	Jun. 30, 2011 Series C Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock	Jun. 30, 2011 Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Stock	May 31, 2012 Common Stock	Apr. 30, 2012 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Feb. 29, 2012 Common Stock	Jan. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2011 Common Stock	May 31, 2011 Common Stock	Apr. 30, 2011 Common Stock	Mar. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Feb. 28, 2011 Common Stock	Jan. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2011 Common Stock	Jun. 30, 2012 Conversion of noncontrolling interest item	Jul. 31, 2012 Conversion of noncontrolling interest
Equity
Shares outstanding	2,000,000		2,000,000		2,000,000									2,000,000		3,536,530
Dividend Rate (as a percent)														8.50%		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
Redemption price (in dollars per share)																$ 25.1333
Income allocated to preferred stockholders	$ 818,000	$ 818,000	$ 1,636,000	$ 7,442,000												$ 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									103,667,000
Amount available under effective shelf registration statement											167,614,000
Maximum offering capacity under shelf registration statement											400,000,000
Dividend Distributions
Declared	28,096,000	27,682,000	28,096,000	27,682,000								1,636,000	3,876,000	1,636,000	1,636,000	2,240,000	26,460,000						23,806,000						26,460,000	23,806,000
Paid			28,096,000	29,450,000								1,636,000	5,644,000	1,636,000	1,636,000	4,008,000													26,460,000	23,806,000
Dividend declared per share per month						$ 0.155	$ 0.155	$ 0.145									$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.145	$ 0.14	$ 0.14	$ 0.14	$ 0.14	$ 0.14	$ 0.14
Increase in dividend declared per share (as a percent)			6.90%
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																															67,294
Number of partnership units converted by second limited partner																															22,000
Redemption notification of limited partnership units																															89,294
Cash paid, redemption of non-controlling interest			2,764,000	88,413,000																											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 partnership units converted																																3,294
Number of shares reserved under limited partnership agreement																															23,294	20,000
Partnership unit conversion price (per unit)																																$ 17.00
Change from net income attributable and transfers from non-controlling interest
Net income attributable to LTC Properties, Inc	13,103,000	12,214,000	26,024,000	24,320,000
Transfers from the non-controlling interest: Decrease in paid-in capital for limited partners conversion	(1,246,000)		(1,246,000)
Change from net income attributable to LTC Properties, Inc. and transfers from non-controlling interest	11,857,000	12,214,000	24,778,000	24,320,000
Carrying value of the partnership conversion rights	406,000		406,000		1,962,000
Market value of the partnership conversion rights	855,000		855,000
Common Stock
Number of shares authorized to be repurchased	5,000,000		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		3,360,237
Other Equity
Accumulated other comprehensive income	169,000		169,000		199,000
Stock option exercises (in shares)	25,000		35,000
Total option value	595,000		746,000
Market value of stock options exercised	$ 831,000		$ 1,136,000