v3.10.0.1

Commitments And Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies (Details) - Related party mortgage originator (with flow mortgage loan purchase and sale agreement) [Member] - Non-Exchange Traded Equity Investment in Mortgage Originators [Member] - USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Other Commitments [Line Items]
Guaranty Liabilities	$ 30,000,000
Drawn down amount being guaranteed	16,300,000
Guarantor Obligations, Current Carrying Value	$ 0	$ 0

X

- Definition

Amount of borrowings outstanding under related party's MRA for which the Company has guaranteed repayment.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	efc_Drawndownamountbeingguaranteed
Namespace Prefix:	efc_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The current carrying amount of the liability for the freestanding or embedded guarantor's obligations under the guarantee or each group of similar guarantees.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913245&loc=d3e12069-110248

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GuaranteeObligationsCurrentCarryingValue
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

This item represents a non-contingent liability for the fair value of an obligation to stand ready to perform over the term of a guaranty issued in the event that specified triggering events or conditions occur.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913062&loc=d3e11049-110243

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.15)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 210
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.15)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913062&loc=d3e11019-110243

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_GuarantyLiabilities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherCommitmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=efc_RelatedpartymortgageoriginatorwithflowmortgageloanpurchaseandsaleagreementMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=efc_NonExchangeTradedEquityInvestmentinMortgageOriginatorsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: