v3.19.1

Investment in Loans (Schedule of Consumer Mortgage Loans) (Details) (Details) (Details) $ in Thousands | 3 Months Ended
--- | ---
Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] |
Unpaid Principal Balance | $ 1,026,983
Consumer loans |
Accounts, Notes, Loans and Financing Receivable [Line Items] |
Unpaid Principal Balance | 184,171
Premium (Discount) | 6,912
Amortized Cost | 191,083
Gains | 2,623
Losses | (1,591)
Fair Value | $ 192,115
Life (Years) | 285 days
Delinquency (Days) | 3 days

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Amortized Cost + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableAmortizedCost
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Delinquency Period + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableDelinquencyPeriod
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Gains + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableGains
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Life + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableLife
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Financing Receivable, Losses + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableLosses
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Premium (Discount) + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivablePremiumDiscount
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- Definition Financing Receivable, Unpaid Principal Balance + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | efc_FinancingReceivableUnpaidPrincipalBalance
Namespace Prefix: | efc_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- 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_AccountsNotesAndLoansReceivableLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

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- Definition Fair value portion of loan receivable, including, but not limited to, mortgage loans held for investment, finance receivables held for investment, policy loans on insurance contracts. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 310 -SubTopic 10 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/subtopic&trid=2196772 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LoansReceivableFairValueDisclosure
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | debit
Period Type: | instant

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- Details
Name: | us-gaap_FinancingReceivablePortfolioSegmentAxis=us-gaap_ConsumerPortfolioSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |